Iraqi Kurdish authorities working to resume Khor Mor gas supply after deadly attack

Iraqi Kurdish ministries of electricity and natural resources are working with their partners to restore operations at the Khor Mor gasfield in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after output was suspended following a deadly drone attack.

Four Yemeni workers were killed in the attack on Friday, local authorities said.

“Due to a drone attack on the Khor Mor gasfield, gas supplies to power plants have been suspended, resulting in a reduction of approximately 2,500 megawatts in electricity output," the Kurdistan Regional Government said on social media platform X.

“Staff from the KRG’s ministries of electricity and natural resources, along with their partners, are working to restore normal conditions and resume gas supply to the power plants,” the government added.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid condemned the attack that resulted in “multiple deaths and injuries, and has impacted the local electricity supply network”.

“Our security services must investigate the incident without delay and hold the perpetrators accountable,” he said on social media platform X.

Kurdistan regional government representative Peshawa Hawramani told AFP that the field was also “severely damaged”.

A drone hit the site at about 6.45pm local time, Ramak Ramadan, district chief of Chamchamal, where the Khor Mor complex is located, said.

He said that it had hit a fuel storage tank.

Production has been suspended, an adviser to the Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister and a senior Kurdish politician told Reuters.

The site is owned by the UAE company Dana Gas.

The Pearl Consortium, Dana Gas and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum, have the rights to exploit Khor Mor and Chemchemal, two of Iraq's biggest gasfields.

The UAE has strongly condemned the drone attack that targeted the Khor Mor gasfield.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the UAE expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the attacks aimed at undermining security and stability in Iraq, Wam reported.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “The United States strongly condemns today’s attack on energy infrastructure in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

“Attacks like this are an affront to Iraq’s sovereignty,” Mr Miller said.

“We encourage the authorities to investigate and bring to justice those who are responsible.”

Iraqi security forces said they had formed an investigative committee to probe the attack, vowing that the “aggressors” would be punished.

The gasfield lies between the cities of Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah.

Unclaimed Katyusha rocket attacks hit the same complex several times in recent years without causing significant damage.

In January, two Katyusha rockets hit the gasfield, causing a fire, but no casualties were reported.

“These repeated attacks must stop,” Mr Hawramani said.