Drone attack forces shutdown of Sarsang oil field in Duhok

2026-03-06 - 11:14

Shafaq News- Duhok Oil production at the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province has been halted after a drone strike damaged facilities at the site, the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Friday. In a statement, the ministry said the HKN-operated field was targeted overnight in what it described as a “terrorist attack” carried out by “outlaw groups inside Iraq,” forcing operators to suspend production. The Sarsang field produces about 30,000 barrels of oil per day and is operated by HKN Energy, which holds a 62% stake in the project. HKN is a privately held US oil and gas company owned by Hillwood Energy, part of the Hillwood group founded by American businessman Ross Perot Jr. The ministry condemned the strike as an attack on the Kurdistan Region’s economic infrastructure, warning that such incidents harm both the Region and Iraq’s overall oil revenues. It urged the federal government to prevent further attacks on civilians and the oil and gas sector. Sources told Shafaq News that two drones targeted oil facilities in the Chamanke subdistrict, north of Duhok, late Thursday. One drone was intercepted before reaching its target, while the second crashed near a power generator inside the oil field, sparking a fire. Cities across the Kurdistan Region have faced repeated rocket and drone attacks since the start of the US–Israeli war on Iran, with strikes hitting Harir military base, Erbil International Airport, and the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq. Read more: Post-Khamenei Iraq: Factional pressure Vs. state sovereignty