Dana Gas halts production at Kurdistan's Khor Mor facility after 'rocket attack'

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - UAE-based Dana Gas reported Thursday that production at its Khor Mor facility in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province has been suspended after the site “was struck by a rocket attack” late Wednesday. The company confirmed that “no injuries to personnel were recorded.”

In a statement obtained by Rudaw, Dana Gas reported that “a liquid storage tank at the Khor Mor facility” was “struck by a rocket attack,” adding that “there were no injuries to personnel.”

The company said that production at the facility “has been shut down to extinguish the fire and conduct a situation assessment,” noting that it “continues to coordinate with local authorities, and further updates will be provided to the market in due course.”


Dana Gas, together with its affiliate Crescent Petroleum, is a joint operator and major shareholder in Pearl Petroleum, the consortium leading the development and production of the Khor Mor gas facility.

Earlier this month, Crescent Petroleum CEO Majid Jafar told Rudaw that a major milestone had been reached with the launch of the Khor Mor 250 (KM250) project, boosting natural gas production capacity in the Kurdistan Region by 50 percent - to more than 700 million cubic feet per day.

“It’s a pride for us, but it is a pride for Kurdistan, and it’s really a pride for all of Iraq because it is hugely beneficial, of course, for the electricity situation within the Kurdistan Region, but also for other parts of Iraq,” Jafar then said.

The Khor Mor expansion was intended to support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) flagship Runaki - “light” in Kurdish - initiative, which aims to provide uninterrupted electricity to residents of the Kurdistan Region.

Footage obtained by Rudaw on Thursday showed smoke continuing to billow from the Khor Mor gas field, after an explosives-laden drone struck the facility late Wednesday.


In the aftermath of the attack, the Kurdistan Region's electricity and natural resources ministries said in a joint statement, “We inform the citizens of the Kurdistan Region that tonight [Wednesday] at 11:30 pm, due to a drone attack on the Khor Mor field, all gas transfers to power stations have been halted.”

The statement added that teams from both ministries, along with Dana Gas, are assessing the consequences of the incident with the aim of restoring normal operations.

Following the attack, Omed Ahmed, spokesperson for the KRG's electricity ministry, told Rudaw that eighty percent of the Kurdistan Region’s power supply would be cut in the coming hours.

“Our teams are trying to avoid a complete blackout,” Ahmed emphasized, regretting that “more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity will be lost.”

 

Last updated at 9:20 am