WASHINGTON DC - US energy company HKN Energy has shut down all operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq due to escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, a company executive told Rudaw on Saturday, despite the firm's recent agreement with the Iraqi government to develop a northern oil field.
The executive did not provide further details on the duration of the shutdown or whether production had already been affected.
The move comes as energy companies operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region face growing security concerns amid ongoing exchanges of strikes between the United States and Iran.
HKN’s decision comes shortly after it signed a contract with Iraq’s Oil Ministry to develop the Hamrin oil field in Salahaddin province.
The agreement, signed by the state-run North Oil Company and HKN Energy on July 9, aims to increase production at the field to 140,000 barrels per day of oil and 40 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair said at the time the deal reflects Iraq’s strategy to attract international investment, “especially American and European ones,” into the oil and gas sector.
HKN operates in the Kurdistan Region under production sharing contracts for the Sarsang and Atrush blocks in Duhok province. The company holds a 62 percent interest in the Sarsang block and serves as operator. It also operates the Atrush block with a 25 percent stake.
The suspension of operation by oil companies in the Kurdistan Region follows a series of drone attacks targeting Erbil and Sulaimani provinces over the past few days, killing nine members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Komala Toilers of Kurdistan.
UAE-based Dana Gas announced on Thursday that it had temporarily suspended operations at the Khor Mor gas field near Sulaimani due to what it described as “credible threats” and rising regional tensions.
“All main production facilities associated with Khor Mor [in Chamchamal] have ceased to work temporarily,” the company said in a statement. Khor Mor supplies much of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity and cooking gas needs.
The shutdown also highlights broader security challenges facing energy projects in Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan Region, where oil and gas facilities have repeatedly been targeted by drone attacks linked to Iran-backed armed groups.
Kurdish officials have repeatedly urged Baghdad to provide air defense systems to protect energy infrastructure.
