BAGHDAD (Reuters) -A drone attack prompted the suspension of operations at the Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest gas fields in Iraqi Kurdistan and caused major power cuts across the northern region, field engineers and officials said on Wednesday.
All gas supplies to power stations in the Kurdistan region were halted following the attack, the Natural Resources and Electricity ministries said in a joint statement.
Widespread power outages have affected large areas of the region, local officials said.
A drop of 3,000 megawatts in power generation is expected in Kurdistan after the attack, Kurdish electricity ministry spokesperson Omed Ahmed said in a statement.
The strike, which hit field storage tanks, started a fire and wounded some workers, security sources said.
Firefighting teams were still working to contain the blaze, and a field engineer said damage to the main liquid-gas storage depot would take two to three days to repair.
“A drone struck a key gas storage facility at the field, causing extensive damage, and a fire is still burning,” a worker told Reuters from the field shelter where staff had taken cover amid fears of further attacks.
Two videos posted by Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw on X showed smoke billowing from the site and a partial blackout in the city of Erbil after the drone attack.
Teams from both ministries and the United Arab Emirates’ energy firm Dana Gas, one of the field’s operators, are on site investigating the incident, they said in the joint statement.
The Pearl Consortium, which includes Dana Gas and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum, holds the rights to develop the Khor Mor field.
Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said the field was hit in a “treacherous terrorist” attack that set fire to a main storage tank but caused no casualties.
It said the strike would worsen power shortages in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah and that authorities would pursue those responsible.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
This is the second drone attack that has targeted the field in days as Iraqi Kurdish security forces opened fire at a drone to prevent it from reaching the field late on Sunday.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rashdeed and Moayed Kenany; Additional Reporting by Enas Alashray, Writing by Jaidaa Taha and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Nia Williams, Deepa Babington and Richard Chang)
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