ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will provide residents with subsidized cooking gas to address a market shortage as regional tensions forced the semi-autonomous region to shut down its main gas field on February 28 due to safety concerns.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry said that each 22-liter liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder, mainly used for cooking in the Region, will be sold at the official price of 8,500 Iraqi dinars ($6.48). “The process will last for 30 days,” the statement read.
The measure comes after operations at the strategic Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province, which provides most of the Region’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), were halted after the United States and Israel launched an extensive air campaign against Iran, with serious repercussions for regional stability. Iran has responded by targeting several neighboring countries, including the Kurdistan Region, where at least 200 drones and missiles have been fired at the cities of Erbil and Sulaimani, including their oil fields.
Khor Mor has been targeted numerous times in the past.
Following the latest shutdown, the Region’s natural resources ministry on Wednesday announced that households will receive two subsidized gas cylinders monthly through an electronic card system due to mounting energy shortages.
The initiative began in Erbil province on Wednesday, where the directorate of oil and minerals launched the distribution process using mobile gas distributors, according to the ministry, noting the electronic card system is intended to regulate distribution, prevent price manipulation, and ensure that citizens can access gas at the government-set price.
It added that similar systems will soon be introduced in other provinces across the Region.
The halt in gas supplies to power plants has significantly reduced electricity generation, leaving many residents with only five to eight hours of electricity per day.
In late February, following the outbreak of the war, the electricity and natural resources ministries said in a joint statement that “due to the exceptional circumstances and the conflict occurring in the region," the UAE-based Dana Gas firm operating in the field "has suspended the supply of natural gas to electricity power plants."
They warned that “electricity production capacity will decrease by 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts,” significantly reducing gas supply to the KRG’s flagship Runaki project - “light” in Kurdish - which has been providing 24-hour electricity across the Region.
Kurdistan Region Presidency spokesperson Dilshad Shahab told Rudaw on Monday the suspension was mainly driven by "fear" of drone attacks by armed groups inside Iraq rather than the broader regional conflict.
“The halting of Khor Mor operations and other oil companies is more out of fear of drones from inside Iraq and forces outside the law than fear of war from Iran, America, or Israel,” Shahab said.
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