Iraq’s Khor Mor field to restart gas production within hours, says Kurdish PM

Iraq’s Khor Mor field to restart gas production within hours, says Kurdish PM

Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani thanked the company Dana Gas for its resilience and determination amid 11 attacks on the Khor Mor field.

Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani urged Iraq’s prime minister to hold those behind the Khor Mor gas field attack fully accountable. (EPA Images pic)
BAGHDAD:
Iraq’s Kurdistan region has agreed with the company operating the Khor Mor gas field to restart production within hours to restore electricity, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Saturday, days after the field was hit in an attack.

The Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the Kurdistan region, provides supplies for regional power generation.

On Thursday, joint field operator Dana Gas said a rocket had struck a storage tank at the gas field late on Wednesday, leading to production shutdown and extensive power cuts.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and authorities have not said who was behind the attack.

In a separate incident on Saturday, an attack on fuel tanker trucks in the northern city of Erbil killed one person and injured others, the Kurdistan region’s interior ministry said, describing the assailants as “rioters.”

The ministry said the tankers were carrying liquid fuel to supply power plants after gas production at Khor Mor was halted.

The storage tank at Khor Mor is part of new facilities partially financed by the US and built by a US contractor, an industry source said earlier this week.

“I have spoken with the company’s (Dana Gas) leadership to thank them and their workforce for their extraordinary resilience and determination amid eleven attacks on the Khor Mor field,” Barzani said in a statement posted in English.

The attack was the most significant since a series of drone attacks in July hit oilfields and cut production from the region by around 150,000 barrels per day.

“I have urged (Iraqi) Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to hold the perpetrators of this attack accountable to the full extent of the law, whoever they may be and wherever they are,” Barzani added.

The Kurdistan regional government exercises autonomy in northern Iraq, where US companies have significant investments in energy.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.