Iraq's Kurdish Khor Mor field production "normal" after rocket attacks: Dana Gas

Production from Iraq's Khor Mor gas field in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region is "normal," UAE-based operator Dana Gas said July 26, a day after its operations in the area were hit by rockets.

"Dana Gas informs the market that two small rockets landed within the Khor Mor Block in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on the evening of Monday, July 25," it said in a July 26 statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange where its shares are listed. "There were no injuries, and production operations continue as normal."

The attack didn't result in any casualties or damage, and investigations are underway following the incident, Lawk Ghafuri, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government said on Twitter on July 25.

Amid strained ties between Erbil and Baghdad over Kurdistan's independent energy sector, no one has claimed the responsibility for the attacks on Khor Mor so far.

The Khor Mor project was attacked three times in less than a week in June amid an escalation of strikes on energy infrastructure in the area.

Dana Gas said June 27 that it had suspended a 250 MMcf/d expansion project at its Khor Mor field following the three rocket attacks on its facilities.

Dana Gas, the biggest gas producer in Kurdistan, was planning to increase Khor Mor's production capacity from the current 450 MMcf/d to 700 MMcf/d by the second quarter of 2023. The expansion project received a $250 loan from the US International Development Finance Corp. in 2021.

Erbil-Baghdad tensions

Dana Gas' production from Kurdistan remained largely unchanged at 35,400 boe/d in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

In April 2007, Dana Gas and its parent company Crescent Petroleum entered an agreement with the KRG for exclusive rights to appraise, develop, produce, market and sell petroleum and gas from the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields. Other shareholders in what is called the Pearl consortium are OMV, MOL and RWE, holding a 10% stake each.

Tensions have risen between Baghdad and Erbil after Iraq's top federal court asked the regional government to hand over its oil operations to Baghdad following its ruling on Feb. 15, when it judged Kurdistan's 2007 oil and gas law unconstitutional.

Although the KRG rejected the ruling, it sent delegations to Baghdad to solve the issue through dialogue, albeit without much result. Baghdad has been putting legal and diplomatic pressure on oil companies working in Kurdistan amid the dispute with Erbil.

Recently, Kurdistan agreed with the federal agreement in Baghdad to "increase dialogue" to resolve "outstanding issues," including a dispute about their oil and natural gas rights, the prime ministers of both regions said July 23 in a joint statement