IEA Chief Proposes Building Oil Pipeline to Bypass Strait of Hormuz Amid Iran’s Blockade

Fatih Birol suggested that building a new pipeline from Basra, Iraq, to Ceyhan, Turkey, could be an ‘extremely attractive’ proposition.

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol in Brussels on March 6, 2026. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposed building a new oil pipeline linking Iraq’s Basra oil fields and Turkey’s Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan to bypass the currently blockaded Strait of Hormuz, in comments published on April 19.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview with Turkish newspaper Hurriyet that he believes that a “Basra-Ceyhan pipeline could be extremely attractive and a very important project for both Iraq and Turkey, as well as for regional supply security, especially from Europe’s perspective.”