An armed drone struck an oil field in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Thursday, according to Kurdish forces, the second strike in two days on the Norwegian-run site.
Smoke billowed throughout the morning from the strike on the facility in the Sarsang block, located in the town of Chamanke.
Middle East Eye was among the news organisations granted exclusive access to the facility operated by the US company HKN Energy. Security personnel at the site cautioned reporters to keep their distance due to ongoing gas leaks following the attack.
Guards at Kurdish oil fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are armed with Kalashnikov rifles and PKM machine guns, locally known as BKC. Empty bullet casings were scattered on the ground, evidence of an earlier attempt to repel the drone attack on the facility.
A video posted Wednesday from the Tawke oil field in Zakho, operated by Norwegian company DNO, shows guards firing machine guns in an attempt to fend off a drone.
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However the press visit to the site was cut short due to a security alert. The Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Service later said that a drone had struck an oil facility operated by DNO in Zakho, one of the locations included in the planned tour.
Separately, another drone crashed in the village of Surezha, near the Erbil Gas Power Station.
Oil fields targeted
Since 14 July, at least six oil fields have been targeted by drone attacks, including sites operated by US companies – HKN and Hunt Oil were each hit twice – and DNO, which was also struck twice.
Drone attacks have also occurred in other areas, both before and after 14 July, particularly near the US consulate in Erbil, the Erbil airport, and the 70s Peshmerga base in Sulaymaniyah.
Drone attacks have increased in the Kurdistan Region since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran ended on 24 June.
“The drone attacks in Kurdish energy sites grew out of a sequence of drone attacks since 19 June on Kurdish security forces, where Iraqi militias were claiming that Kurdistan was supporting Israeli and US strikes on Iran,” Michael Knights, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, told MEE.
Kurdish officials have claimed neutrality in the war. On 13 June, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani condemned Israel’s attack on Iran and spoke with the Iranian foreign minister during the conflict – a stance welcomed by Iranian state media.
“On July 14 this drone and rocket campaign on Kurdistan and Kirkuk transitioned to an attack on Kurdistan’s energy. The switch happened because Iran-backed militias in Iraq’s government want to push back on Kurdistan Region, and US pressure from Baghdad about salary payments and energy contracts. This is a counter-pressure campaign by Baghdad militias,” Knights said.
‘We know exactly who’s behind these attacks and where they’re coming from’
– Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff, Kurdistan Regional Government
These attacks are not new. According to a Washington Kurdish Institute report, Iran and Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq launched 32 attacks on the Kurdistan Region between September 2018 and October 2023.
An analyst said the attacks appear aimed at disrupting the Kurdistan Region’s oil infrastructure and delaying a potential energy agreement with Baghdad.
Mahmood Baban, research fellow at the Rudaw Research Center, said the attacks appear aimed at disrupting the Kurdistan Region’s oil infrastructure and delaying a potential energy agreement with Baghdad.
Baban added that they also demonstrate the attackers’ technical capability and lack of concern for the consequences.
“The oil and gas fields in the Kurdistan Region do not have adequate protection systems so far. If they did, the attacks would not have such huge economic impacts,” he said.
Erbil-Baghdad negotiations
Since last month, there have been several negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad to resume suspended oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.
The exports were suspended after a 2023 ruling by an arbitration court in Paris that found Turkey in violation of an agreement with Iraq by allowing independent Kurdish oil exports.
In May, Iraq’s finance ministry suspended salary payments to Kurdish public employees, accusing Kurdish authorities of exceeding their 12.67 percent share of the federal budget and failing to deliver the agreed volume of oil to the state-owned oil company.
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Analysts saw the move as retaliation for two energy deals, worth $110bn, the Kurdish government signed in Washington with US firms, including HKN, without Baghdad’s approval in May.
A Kurdish official, speaking to MEE on condition of anonymity, blamed the Popular Mobilisation Front (PMF) “and other militias aligned with the Iraqi government” for “targeting Kurdistan’s oil fields and economic infrastructure.”
Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, also blamed “criminal militias on the Iraqi government payroll”.
On 15 July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, ordered an investigation into the drone attacks on oil facilities in the Kurdistan Region and vowed to hold those responsible to account.
However, Kurdish officials have complained that the perpetrators are well known and that action has been limited. “We know exactly who’s behind these attacks and where they’re coming from,” Ahmad said.
Tensions escalated earlier, on 5 July, when Sudani’s military spokesperson condemned a statement by the KRG interior ministry accusing PMF groups of involvement in the attacks, calling the allegations against an official security institution “unacceptable”.
‘Duty to protect’
Myles B Caggins III, spokesperson for the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents the majority of international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, called on Baghdad to stop the drone attacks.
“The government of Iraq must take immediate action to protect the commercial oil production sites in the Kurdistan Region. After three days of attacks on this critical petroleum infrastructure, we are alarmed, and we are taking appropriate precautions to protect our personnel and our facilities,” Caggins told MEE.
“Most APIKUR member companies have temporarily paused oil production operations, and each day that operations are paused, there is a great financial loss to the people of Iraq.”
The United States has also strongly condemned the drone attacks on its companies.
‘Over 60 percent of KRG oil production has been halted due to the strikes in the past three days’
– Mehmet Alaca, analyst
“The Government of Iraq has a duty to protect its territory and all of its citizens,” US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on Wednesday. “These strikes target international companies that are working with Iraq to invest in Iraq’s future.”
Ankara-based analyst Mehmet Alaca told Middle East Eye that Baghdad has long used hard power to undermine Erbil and curb its autonomy.
“The ongoing attacks on oil fields, even as negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad reach their final stages, are a clear indication of this. Over 60 percent of KRG oil production has been halted due to the strikes in the past three days. The attacks appear aimed at forcing Erbil into negotiations,” Alaca said.
“Erbil has always been an easy target for Iran. Erbil is chosen for its retaliation against Israel. The current use of similar tactics by militia groups is a tactic learned from their patrons.
“Unable to maintain its internal political integrity and with its economic weakness deepening, the KRG will be even more vulnerable to Baghdad.”
On Thursday, the Iraqi government approved a deal with the KRG to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan region and the salary payments for public employees.
Barzani welcomed Baghdad’s decision and called for an end to the attacks on the Kurdistan Region, including its oil infrastructure.
“We hope the federal government will assist in identifying those responsible and in taking the necessary legal measures against them,” Barzani said.
