A drone attack and explosion halted production at Iraq’s Khor Mor gas field on November 8. A Kurdish electricity official said gas supplies to regional power plants had stopped and forecast a 2,500–2,800 MW drop in generation.

What happened at Khor Mor

The field is in Sulaimaniyah province, in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. Israelinfo.co.il placed the attack at about 11 p.m. local time, citing the time given in its report.

Reuters reported, citing two security sources, that thick smoke rose over the site. An engineer at the field told the agency that the gas storage facility had been hit and staff had been sent to shelters.

The number of drones is not clear. A Kurdish security official cited by AFP mentioned one explosives-laden drone, while a source cited by the Iraqi broadcaster Al-Sumaria counted three. Local security services had not provided information on possible casualties or the extent of the damage, Interfax reported.

Why the strike matters for electricity

Khor Mor supplies gas to power plants in Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, Bazian, Chamchamal and Duhok. Omid Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Electricity, said the gas supply to those plants had stopped.

Ahmed forecast that electricity generation would fall by 2,500–2,800 MW. He said residents would feel the shortages more fully after midnight. The scale of the forecast points to a significant loss of generation, but it does not establish how long the disruption will last.

The ministry said it was using hydroelectric plants at the Dukan and Darbandikhan dams, along with power stations that can run on other fuels, to try to prevent a complete blackout. Ahmed said the measures were intended to keep electricity flowing to critical sites, including hospitals and water facilities.

Ahmed expected electricity supplies to begin recovering gradually no earlier than noon on November 9. The sources do not give a timetable for restarting gas production at Khor Mor.

Who was responsible remains unknown

No group had claimed responsibility at the time of Israelinfo.co.il’s report. Kurdistan authorities have previously accused pro-Iranian groups of similar attacks, but that does not identify who carried out this strike.

The field is managed by Pearl Petroleum, a consortium led by the Emirati companies Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum. The available information does not establish a connection between the consortium or any of its members and the attack.