Attack Halts Production at Iraq’s Khor Mor Gas Field

Gas production stopped at the Khor Mor field in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region late on Sunday, November 8, after a projectile hit its gas-storage area. The attack caused a fire at the field west of Sulaimani, disrupting a major source of fuel for the region’s electricity supply. A source at the field described a “massive fire” in the storage area but could not determine whether the projectile was a drone or a rocket. A separate security source said the attack came from Tuz Khurmatu, south of Kirkuk. The affected section included a warehouse and an area where trucks load cooking gas. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s electricity ministry said generation capacity would fall by 2,800 megawatts after the field went offline. Khor Mor supplies much of the region’s electricity and household cooking gas. UAE-based Dana Gas operates gas production at the field. The attack followed nearly four months without attacks on Khor Mor. On July 28, Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, said an agreement had been reached to resume gas supplies. In that interview, Ahmad said the field had been attacked 12 times in recent years and that three personnel had been killed.