Gasoline delivered to Syria is now being transported by road into Iraq, a senior Syrian oil official told Reuters, creating a two-way energy corridor along a route Baghdad has used to move fuel since shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted.

The first shipment to Iraq, consisting of around 32,800 metric tons of gasoline carried by the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Avanti, was discharged into storage tanks at Syria’s Baniyas refinery before being transferred to tanker trucks this week, according to Tareq Shallash, director of the Refining Directorate at the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC).

Shallash said 77 tanker trucks had already departed Baniyas for the Iraqi border, with loading operations continuing and additional shipments expected.

He said the gasoline was not produced in Syria and was not taken from reserves allocated for the Syrian market.

The operation is being conducted under a transit agreement between SPC and Qatar-based UCC Holding, which Shallash identified as the supplier and company overseeing the transportation.

“A contract was signed between SOMO and the Qatari company to supply Iraq with improved gasoline through the port of Baniyas by road tankers, and the supplies have in fact been delivered on a regular basis,” Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesperson Saleem al-Rikabi told Reuters on Friday.

Shipping data from LSEG showed that another Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, Gaita, loaded gasoline at the Port of Houston before sailing to Baniyas to discharge its cargo.