Dana Gas halts work on expansion project following Khor Mor attacks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Dana Gas has temporarily suspended the work on one of its expansion projects in Khor Mor gas field after it was hit by three rockets in less than a week, the company said on Monday as production operations in the field continue.

Three rockets struck the key Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani’s Chamchamal district in a matter of four days, the latest being on Saturday.

The latest attack did not result in injuries or damages, Dana Gas affirmed in a statement seen by Rudaw English. However, it said that the “work on the KM 250 expansion project has been temporarily suspended while security enhancements are carried out.”

The KM 250 project is the first stage of a two-train expansion project at the field that aims to boost total production capacity to over 1 billion cubic feet per day by 2024. Work at the plant resumed in April of last year after it was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday said he was troubled by the recent attacks on Khor Mor, noting that additional security forces will be deployed to the area.

Dana Gas said they are coordinating with the KRG and the Iraqi government which “have shown strong support.”

“The KRG has taken all necessary measures to enhance security measures in Khor Mor including the mobilization of further armed forces to protect the facilities,” the UAE-based company noted.

Khor Mor field produces 452 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, according to Dana Gas.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks targeting the crucial gas field which come at a time of intensifying tensions between Baghdad and Erbil over the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law, which Iraq's top court deemed "unconstitutional" amid growing Kurdish ambitions to export gas.