ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Gas production at the key Khor Mor field in the Kurdistan Region is set to return to normal on Wednesday, after a technical issue was resolved, stabilizing the natural power grid, the natural resources ministry said. 

“Following the resolution of a technical issue at the Khor Mor gas field, gas production will return to normal today,” a source from the Kurdistan Region’s natural resource ministry told The New Region.

As a result, “the supply of national electricity hours will also return to normal,” the source said.

The US-Israeli war on Iran had disrupted much of the gas production in the vital Khor Mor field, the main supplier of electricity in the Kurdistan Region, as the field operators evacuated their personnel. 

The reduction in gas supply resulted in worsened energy pressures on Baghdad amid a restriction in the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing conflict, with Iraq exporting the vast majority of its oil via the strategic waterway.

It also led to private generators in the Kurdistan Region - largely phased out as part of the landmark Runaki electricity initiative - being brought back out to compensate for the lack of national electricity. 

With the announcement of a temporary ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran earlier on Wednesday, maritime traffic has resumed at the Strait of Hormuz for a period of two weeks.

The oil companies’ decision to reduce production was prompted by continuous drone strikes by pro-Iran militias targeting the Region’s energy infrastructure.

In November, an attack on the Khor Mor field shut down production and slashed the Kurdistan Region’s electricity production by 80 percent for several days. The strike also disrupted power delivery to the provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Salahaddin.

The Khor Mor field is the main producer of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity, with natural gas reserves of around 1.8 trillion cubic feet. It is operated by the UAE-based Dana Gas, which, alongside affiliate Crescent Petroleum, agreed to a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2007 to develop the Region’s gas capacities.