Highlights

  • A drone attack halted Natural Gas production at Iraq’s Khor Mor field on Sunday.
  • A single strike hit an LPG storage tank and caused a fire at the facility.
  • Field personnel moved to shelters within the site after the attack.
  • Iraq’s prime minister reported no casualties in an initial assessment.
  • The disruption removed some 2.8 gigawatts of power generation in the Kurdistan region.
  • Regional ministries began working to minimise the attack’s impact on energy supplies.

Natural gas production at Iraq’s Khor Mor field stopped on Sunday after a drone strike hit the facility, triggering a fire and interrupting supplies linked to electricity generation in the Kurdistan region. The incident brought another operational disruption to one of the region’s largest gas fields, with authorities reporting an immediate loss of some 2.8 gigawatts of power generation. The halt followed months of regional security tensions affecting energy infrastructure and shipping routes.

A Strike on Storage Facilities Stops Production

A single drone struck an LPG storage tank at Khor Mor on November 8, according to officials familiar with the incident. The impact sparked a fire at the facility, while smoke was visible rising from the field. Production was suspended following the strike, and employees were evacuated to shelters located inside the site.

The initial assessment from Iraq’s prime minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Ali al-Zaidi, indicated that the attack had caused no casualties. The identity of those responsible remained unknown, with no claim of responsibility reported at the time.

Power Generation Feels the Immediate Effect

The production halt extended beyond the field itself because Khor Mor supplies gas used for electricity generation across the Kurdistan region. The regional electricity ministry reported that some 2.8 gigawatts of generating capacity had been lost following the attack. That figure showed the immediate scale of the disruption to the region’s power system, although no timeline for restoring production was provided.

In a joint statement, the Kurdistan region’s natural resources and electricity ministries described the incident as a terrorist attack. Both ministries said they were working to minimise its effects. The statements did not specify the extent of damage to the tank or provide a restart date for gas operations.

Security Risks Return to a Key Iraqi Gas Asset

The latest incident followed an earlier interruption at the same field. Joint operator Dana Gas had shut down Khor Mor’s main production facilities in July because of credible security threats and heightened regional tensions. Production resumed later that month, making the November stoppage another disruption at an asset serving regional power demand.

The wider security backdrop has remained unsettled. Iraq has been among the countries affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping traffic has continued to face disruption and attacks. Baghdad has also sought to balance its relationships with Iran and the United States amid the conflict between the two countries.

Regional Tensions Form the Wider Backdrop

Northern Iraq has experienced further security pressures during the conflict. Tehran has attacked Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the north of the country, while Iran-backed militants operating in Iraq have launched attacks against Gulf neighbours. These developments provide the context in which the latest strike on Khor Mor occurred, but responsibility for this particular attack has not been established.

Summary

Khor Mor’s natural gas output remains suspended following the November 8 drone strike on an LPG storage tank. Authorities reported no casualties in their initial assessment, while regional officials recorded a loss of some 2.8 gigawatts of power generation. The timing of any production restart and the full operational impact were not disclosed.