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Two missile attacks on the Khor Mor field in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have threatened the sources of gas in the Kurdistan Region. There is suspicion of Hashd al-Shaabi forces. Bafel Talabani will go to Baghdad this week. Khor Mor gas is stuck between exports to Turkey and pipelines to households and local factories. Where were the katyusha directed from, and what is the message behind the missiles? More details in this report.

Who's attacking?

Katyusha missiles were fired twice in two days at Khor Mor field in Qadir Karam district of Chamchamal district. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and the PUK security forces, which control the area, have not pointed the finger at anyone. According to Darw, PUK officials suspect that Shiite armed militias in Duzkhurmatu are behind the attack. Military officials have determined the direction of the Katyushas. The rockets were fired at the village of Qalganlu in Nawjul, a district in Duzkhurmatu, which is only 5 kilometers away from the Khor Mor gas field. There is a security gap between the Peshmerga and Hashd Shaabi in the area. According to Draw information, the PUK president Bafel Talabani is to visit Baghdad on Sunday to talk to Iraqi government officials about the attacks on the Khor Mor field.

Why Khor Mor?

On May 5, the Northern Oil Company, which belongs to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, issued a statement saying that the Kurdistan Regional Government has exceeded the oil fields belonging to the Northern Company, including (Khurmala, Avana, Safiya, Khor Mor).

Khurmala is the largest oil field under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), within the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) zone, which produces 175,000 barrels of oil per day. In the PUK zone, the Khor Mor field, the largest gas field in the Kurdistan Region and supplies gas to domestic households and power plants, is also in trouble, and Iraq is demanding it.

The Northern Oil Company (NOC) has filed a lawsuit against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the Iraqi courts over the Khurmala and Khor Mor oil fields.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has recently sent a letter to all companies operating in the oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan Region following the failure of negotiations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to implement the decision of the Federal Supreme Court. They asked them to renew their contracts with the Iraqi government within three months, otherwise they would be blacklisted.

Some believe that this situation has led Iraqi armed groups to shift their attacks from diplomatic positions to the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas facilities within the jurisdiction of the PUK and KDP.

There is another view that the reason behind the attacks on Khor Mor is linked to a legal dispute between the UAE's Dana Gas and the Iranian government over gas the 25-year agreement was signed in 2005. Dana Gas won the first part of the case against Iran, worth $608 million. The court is scheduled to decide on the second part of the case in October.

Iran is suspected of moving its war with UAE's Dana Gas to the Khor Mor field through Iraqi Shiite militias to send a message to the UAE that it could damage their economy.

Kurdistan exports gas!

In February, Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani arrived in Ankara unexpectedly and was photographed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"I discussed with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Nechirvan Barzani about exporting gas to Turkey," Erdogan told reporters after the meeting.

Erdogan's statement was enough to put the Kurdistan Region under strong pressure from the Iraqi and Iranian governments, especially in those days when the director of Dana Gas said: “We can supply fuel to Iraq and Turkey with Chamchamal gas.”

In the same month that Nechirvan visited Turkey (February), the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court suddenly ruled on a complaint filed by the Iraqi Oil Ministry, overturning the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law and ordering the region to hand over its oil and gas to Baghdad.

Gas pipeline over Bafel Talabani's dead body!

The gas from the Khor Mor field is stuck between two projects, the KDP's project to export it to Turkey and the PUK's project to pipe the gas to households and local factories.

On April 28, 2013, Bafel Talabani, the PUK leader, met with representatives of diplomatic envoys of and international organizations and agencies in Erbil, in this meeting on the issue of exporting Kurdistan gas Talabani said that "Gas won't go out of Kurdistan the way the oil has, with that level of mismanagement and lack of transparency," he also emphasized that, "If any attempt goes beyond these demands, the gas pipeline must be exported over the dead body of Bafel Jalal Talabani."

Khor Mor... Kurdistan Gas Resources

Khor Mor is located in the west of Qadir Karam district. Until 1976, this district belonged to Khurmatu district, which means that it was included in Kirkuk province, but that year it was added to Salahaddin province.

Khor Mor was under the control of the Iraqi government until 2003. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the field fell back to the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2015, gas was produced in the field and piped to the Chamchamal and Erbil power plants.

The current production of the farm is as follows:

• Natural gas: 452 million cubic feet per day

• Condensate: 22,000 barrels per day are transported by tankers to Khurmala station and mixed with Kurdistan Regional Government oil in order to improve its quality

• (LPG): 1050 tons. Dana Gas sells it to local companies for $315 per ton. (South Kurdistan) company buys it and distribute it.

Gas in the Kurdistan Region

According to the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Kurdistan Region has 200 trillion cubic feet (5.7 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas reserves, which is 3% of the world's average gas reserves. However, this is the unproven reserves because the proven natural gas reserves of the region, according to US energy reports, is only (25 trillion) cubic feet.

PUK controlled area reserves

• Khor Mor field: 8.2 trillion cubic feet

• Chamchamal field: 4.4 trillion cubic feet

• Miran field: 3.46 trillion cubic feet

• Palkana field: 1.6 trillion cubic feet

KDP controlled area reserves

• Banabawe field: 7.1 trillion cubic feet

• Khormala field: 2 trillion 260 billion cubic meters

• Sheikhan field: 900 billion cubic feet

• Pirmam field: 880 billion cubic feet