Drone Attack Halts Production at Iraq's Khor Mor Gas Field, Cutting Kurdistan Power

Updated 23:16 UTC. Developing story.

CHAMCHAMAL, Iraq. Production at the Khor Mor gas field was halted late on Sunday, November 8, after a drone attack hit the site, Kurdish authorities and security sources said. Khor Mor is one of the largest gas fields in Iraq's Kurdistan region and supplies gas to power stations across the region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's ministries of Natural Resources and Electricity said in a joint statement that at 11 p.m. the Khor Mor gas field came under a terrorist attack. A Kurdish security source told Agence France-Presse that an explosive laden drone hit the field.

Two security sources told Reuters that smoke was seen rising from the field. An engineer working at the field said a gas storage facility was hit during the attack, and all crew were ordered to go into shelters for fear of further attacks. A source at the field told the Iraqi outlet 964media that the attack set off a fire and caused heavy damage.

Power supply hit

The regional Electricity Ministry said generation capacity would drop by about 2,800 megawatts after the field went offline, Rudaw reported. Khor Mor sits in the Chamchamal district of Sulaymaniyah province and produces about 750 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. Its gas feeds power plants that generate most of the Kurdistan region's electricity, so a long shutdown would mean longer power cuts for homes and businesses.

The field is operated by Pearl Petroleum, a consortium that includes the United Arab Emirates based companies Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum.

Investigation ordered, no claim of responsibility

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered a joint investigation with the authorities in the Kurdistan Region into the attack, his office said, according to 964media. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and early reports gave no confirmed word on casualties.

Khor Mor has been hit repeatedly by rocket and drone attacks in recent years. A drone strike on the field in April 2024 killed four Yemeni workers. Officials have not said when production might restart, and the full extent of the damage was not yet clear late on Sunday.

Orbit Post will update this story as officials and the operator confirm more details.