Turkey is considering building a new oil pipeline to Syria that would also connect to the existing Turkey-Iraq pipeline, the Turkish energy minister said Friday.

“There are still many aspects to be developed, such as the creation of an oil pipeline from Syria to Turkey, integrating it with the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said in a statement reported by a local media outlet, Rudaw. 

Ankara has moved quickly to establish ties with Syria’s interim government, which was formed by rebel forces earlier this month after ousting Bashar al-Assad and ending more than five decades of Baathist rule.

The Minister further explained that Turkey is leading the efforts to utilize Syria’s natural resources, mainly oil and gas, to reconstruct the country after more than two decades of political unrest. 

Bayraktar noted that Syria’s daily oil production, which was around 600,000 barrels in the early 2000s, has now fallen to approximately 30,000 barrels, reducing the country’s income from the vital natural resource which has an enormous potential to revive the economy. 

Turkey had been a strong critic of Assad and a key supporter of opposition forces in Syria. The Turkish government was one of the first to reopen its embassy in Damascus and establish relations with Syria’s new leadership.

Bayraktar said he expects to lead a Turkish delegation to Syria in the near future.