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Iraq has signed roughly $60 billion in preliminary deals with US companies, including agreements to build new oil export routes that would let Iraq ship crude to world markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and about 23 million barrels per day moved through it before the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28. Iran has repeatedly closed the strait since, sending oil prices swinging wildly. The conflict between the US and Iran has hit Iraq especially hard, as the country has had to cut production because no tankers have been able to transit the strait safely. That has strained Iraq’s economy and forced Iraq to truck some oil through Syria, which is slower, more expensive, and more dangerous because ISIS still has a presence in the region.

What’s going on now: After wrapping up a meeting with President Trump in Washington and a sit-down with Chevron executives in Houston, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi inked deals spanning energy, healthcare, communications, and infrastructure.

The centerpiece is an Iraq-Syria agreement to rehabilitate a long-defunct crude oil pipeline running to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, a project the State Department said a “US-led international consortium” would execute and that would carry an initial 2 million barrels per day.

Chevron signed three separate agreements with Iraq, two aimed at raising output and a third on the pipeline. Iraq also signed a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink, clearing the company to run its service inside Iraq under an official license.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said the pipeline deal would make “the Strait of Hormuz an afterthought.”