A document attributed to Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria, outlines an ambitious proposal to reposition war-scarred Syria as a major transit hub for global energy, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's oil passes) driving fresh interest in overland alternatives. The plan centres on reviving and expanding a network of pipelines — including the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil link between Iraq and the Mediterranean, estimated at $4.5 billion, and the long-proposed Qatar–Turkey gas pipeline running through Jordan and Syria — that would bypass vulnerable maritime chokepoints and channel Gulf energy to European markets. Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa voiced support for the vision at a diplomatic forum in Antalya this week, but analysts and engineers caution that the project faces steep hurdles, including severe infrastructure damage, a mass exodus of skilled technical workers, and the political instability and governance deficits that have stalled Syria's broader reconstruction for over a decade.