Iraq is accelerating plans to build an oil pipeline to Mediterranean ports in Turkey and Syria as the prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt exports, Oil Minister Bassim Khudair said.

A feasibility study is under way for a pipeline linking the country's oil-producing regions of Basra in the south and Kirkuk in the north with the Mediterranean ports of Ceyhan in Turkey and Baniyas in Syria, Khudair told state news agency INA at the weekend.

The route could later be extended to the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba.

Khudair said there was a "clear vision and strategy" in Baghdad on finding new export routes for Iraqi oil.

Iraq is heavily dependent on oil exports, which in normal times account for more than 90% of state revenues. More than 10 million Iraqis rely on monthly government payments, including civil servants, pensioners and welfare recipients.

Search for alternative export routes

The search for alternative export routes has become increasingly urgent as the Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively blocked for months due to hostilities between Iran and the US. Iraqi oil production has also fallen during the conflict.

However, exporting oil overland would remain more expensive and less efficient than shipping it by sea.

Iraqi officials also acknowledge that pipelines and other energy infrastructure outside the Strait of Hormuz could still be vulnerable to Iranian attacks.

Iraq currently exports some oil through an existing pipeline to Turkey that runs through the autonomous Kurdish region. A second pipeline that bypasses Kurdistan is undergoing final testing and could be put into operation within days, Khudair said.