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The Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the northern Iraqi semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, came under attack late on November 26, with a halt in production and power cuts reported later.
Initially, it was said that Khor Mor was attacked by suicide drones. Later however, the United Arab Emirates’ energy company Dana Gas, which operates the gas field, revealed that the attack was carried out using rockets.
The Kurdistan region’s natural resources ministry and electricity ministry issued a joint statement confirming that the attack occurred at 11:30 p.m. local time [2030 GMT]. Teams from both ministries are currently coordinating with Dana Gas to monitor the situation and mitigate the impact, the statement added.
Separately, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement that the attack constitutes a “dangerous terrorist act” aimed at “hindering and delaying efforts seeking to consolidate security and economic stability.”
The command also warned that the action poses a “direct threat to the interests of Iraqis” and would negatively impact the electricity system, particularly in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces, promising firm legal action against all those involved in the “cowardly act.”
The attack hit a liquid storage tank at the Khor Mor facility, Dana Gas said in a disclosure to the stock market. The tank is part of new facilities partially financed by the United States and built by an American contractor, an industry source told Reuters.
The new facilities were installed as part of the KM250 project which has boosted production capacity of the field by 50%, Dana Gas and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum announced in October.
Two days prior to the devastating attack, security forces in Kurdistan opened fire at a drone to prevent it from reaching Khor Mor.
The attack on the gas field was the most significant since a series of drone attacks in July hit several oil fields and cut production from Kurdistan by around 150,000 barrels per day.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani spoke by phone to Barzani and condemned the attack on Khor Mor. The two agreed to form a joint investigative committee to identify those responsible.
There are still no indications of who may have orchestrated the attack on the gas field. Previous similar attacks were mostly blamed on Iran-backed Shiite armed factions. However, there were also cases where disputes over oil and gas contracts, revenue sharing, and control of fields in Kurdistan were cited as the cause.
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obvious .transparency in government . intention. motivation method .means .
attacking zionist american and zionist uae interests in iraq is a great thing. :)
was it the nosenites?