Iraq is planning to build a new pipeline to pump natural gas to Syria, part of its efforts to develop new oil and gas export routes, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.

Oil minister Hussain Al Shahristani met Syrian ambassador Nawaf Aboud Al Shaikh Faris in Baghdad to discuss co-operation in oil and gas between countries that have restored diplomatic ties in recent years after a decades-long freeze.

'The Iraqi oil ministry is preparing the requirements to fulfil the project of transporting gas from the Akkas field to Syria,' ministry spokesman Asim Jihad quoted Al Shahristani as saying.

He said the ministry has already reached an agreement with a firm specialising in constructing gas pipelines to work on the project, although he did not name the firm.

He also said Iraq and Syria have plans to reopen a long-shut oil pipeline to pump Iraqi crude to the Syrian port of Banias.