The US has been working with Iraq and Syria on a plan to revamp an old pipeline running from Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk to Syria’s Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast, which would allow Iraq to export oil without using the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports citing Middle East Eye.

The London-based news outlet cites Iraqi and other regional officials as saying an agreement to restore the 800-kilometre pipeline, which has been closed for decades and is badly damaged, is expected to be announced during a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Trump in the White House next week.

One senior official tells Middle East Eye that the pipeline will probably have to be completely replaced, which would take two to three years. The official says a group of US companies have already been recruited for the project.