Drone Strike on Khor Mor Gas Field Knocks Out Most of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Power

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A drone struck the Khor Mor gas field in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region late on Sunday, Nov. 8, halting production and cutting the region’s electricity supply by roughly three-quarters. The attack hit at about 11:10 p.m. local time at the field in Qadir Karam, in Chamchamal district of Sulaimani province, according to Al Jazeera and Kurdistan24. Kurdistan24 reported that the liquefied petroleum gas unit in the field’s older section was hit.

Dana Gas, the UAE-listed company that operates the field with partners, told the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange that the fire had been put out, no one was injured and production was suspended. No group has claimed the attack.

How big is the blackout?

Khor Mor supplies gas to the power plants that produce most of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity. Electricity officials cited by The National said generation fell from more than 3,700 megawatts to about 1,000 megawatts, a loss they put at 2,500 to 2,800 megawatts. Plants in Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, Bazian, Chamchamal and Duhok were affected. Al Jazeera reported that more than 70% of the region lost power.

By The Boston Report’s calculation, a drop from 3,700 to 1,000 megawatts is a loss of about 73% of output. Officials warned that households could receive as little as five to six hours of grid power a day until gas flows resume, a projection rather than a schedule. The authorities said they were drawing more on the Dukan and Darbandikhan hydroelectric dams to fill part of the gap.

Rudaw reported that the storage unit at the site holds about 1,500 tonnes of cooking gas and that about 170 tanker trucks load there, meaning the strike also threatens supplies of bottled gas for cooking as winter approaches. The attack ended more than four months of calm at the field.

A repeated target

Khor Mor has been hit before. An attack in late 2025 struck the field, and Dana Gas shut down sites in July this year amid security concerns. Kurdish officials have previously blamed Iran-backed militias for drone and rocket strikes on the region’s energy facilities; no evidence has yet been published linking a specific group to Sunday’s attack.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered a joint investigation committee, and he met Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday. The attack comes as Washington presses Baghdad over Iran. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the U.S. Treasury had asked Iraq to close most of its border crossings with Iran, according to Al Jazeera. That follows a U.S. military effort to choke Iran’s land routes, which we covered in our report on CENTCOM’s Task Force Iron Gate. Broader developments are in our Iran war tracker.

Why it matters beyond Kurdistan

The Kurdistan Region has relied on Khor Mor gas to run power plants that would otherwise burn more expensive liquid fuel. Each shutdown shows how exposed a single field makes the regional grid, and how cheaply a drone can impose costs on millions of people. Energy markets are also sensitive to supply risks in the region, as seen in recent swings in European gas prices.

What to watch

The immediate questions are how long repairs to the LPG unit take, whether Dana Gas can restart the rest of the field sooner, and whether the joint committee names those responsible. A claim of responsibility, or a finding that points to a militia, would raise pressure on Baghdad at a moment when it is already being asked to choose between Washington and Tehran on border trade.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Drone attack suspends production at Iraq's Khor Mor gas field
• The National: Drone attack on Iraqi Kurdistan's Khor Mor gas field causes blackouts
• Kurdistan24: Dana Gas confirms Khor Mor drone attack, production remains suspended
• Rudaw: Khor Mor attack coverage