ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran's gas imports to Iraq have “completely stopped,” a source within Iraq’s electricity ministry told The New Region on Wednesday, coming as the ongoing regional war continues to disrupt energy supply in the Middle East.

The source said that the cut-off of Iranian gas supply has resulted in a shortfall of 3,100 megawatts in the Iraqi power grid, placing additional strain on a national energy system that is highly vulnerable to external market shocks.

Electricity ministry spokesman Ahmed Moussa told Iraqi state media that the ministry that the loss "will certainly affect the system," adding that cooperation with the oil ministry is underway to mitigate the consequences.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has already disrupted much of the gas production in the Khor Mor gas field, the main supplier of electricity in the Kurdistan Region, as companies evacuate personnel. 

The reduction in gas supply compounds energy difficulties facing Baghdad amid Iran's restriction of the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing conflict, with Iraq exporting the vast majority of its oil via the strategic waterway.

There have also been multiple Iranian attacks on tanker ships in the Gulf since the war started, including in Iraqi waters.

Iran has adopted a more belligerent tone regarding the targeting of energy infrastructure in the Middle East, with the semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday reporting that authorities warned citizens in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to “stay away” from key oil and gas facilities, saying they could be considered “legitimate targets” for strikes in the coming hours in retaliation for an attack on an energy facility in southern Iran.

On Tuesday, Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement to export Iraqi oil through the Kurdistan Region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, with the North Oil Company (NOC) hailing the recommencement of flows through the pipeline on Wednesday as a “significant achievement.” 

The global oil market has been thrown into disarray following the outbreak of the regional war, with Brent crude oil prices on Wednesday reaching over $108 per barrel.