IRBIL, Iraq: A drone strike forced a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region’s energy infrastructure.
The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike “an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure.”
The attack followed a similar drone strike a day earlier in neighboring Irbil province.
HKN Energy, the US company, said Tuesday’s blast occurred at about 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) at one of its production facilities in the Sarsang field.
“Operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured,” it said in a statement.
A fire broke out following the explosion, which did not cause any casualties.
Emergency response teams have contained the blaze, the company said later in an update.
In the past few weeks, there has been a spate of drone and rocket attacks mostly affecting Kurdistan.
Long plagued by conflict, Iraq has frequently experienced such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles.
The explosion in Sarsang field occurred a day after three explosive-laden drone attacks were reported in Kurdistan, with one drone shot down near Irbil airport, which hosts US troops, and another two hitting the Khurmala oil field causing material damage.
There has been no claim of responsibility for those attacks.
But, on July 3, the Kurdistan authorities said a drone was downed near Irbil airport, blaming the Hashed Al-Shaabi – a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the regular armed forces.
The federal government in Baghdad rejected the accusation.
The latest attacks come at a time of heightened tension between Baghdad and Irbil over oil exports, with a major pipeline through Turkiye shut since 2023 over legal disputes and technical issues.
In May, Iraq’s federal authorities filed a complaint against the autonomous Kurdistan region for signing gas contracts with two US companies, including HKN Energy.
