Explosive-laden drones hit three oil fields in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on Wednesday, Kurdish authorities said, a day after a similar attack halted operations at a US-run field.
Production in two fields operated by the Norwegian group DNO ASA has been temporarily suspended, the company said.
In the past few weeks, Kurdistan has seen a spate of unclaimed drone attacks, amid simmering tensions between the regional government and the federal authorities in Baghdad over oil exports.
Five oil fields in the region have been hit in the space of a week.
The regional natural resources ministry said the latest attacks had caused "significant damage" and condemned them as acts of "terrorism".
"At 6:00 am and 6:15 am (0300 and 0315 GMT) two explosive-laden drones attacked" the Peshkabir oil field operated by DNO in Zakho district, Kurdistan's counterterrorism services said.
At 7:00 am (0400 GMT) a similar drone struck the DNO-operated Tawke field in the same area.
The Norwegian operator said it suspended its operations following explosions, "one involving a small storage tank at Tawke and the other involving surface processing equipment at Peshkabir".
It added that it was assessing the damage.
At 7:14 am (0414 GMT), another attack targeted an oil field operated by the US firm Hunt Oil in Dohuk province, without causing casualties or damage.
There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the past week's attacks and Baghdad has promised an investigation to identify the culprits.
A similar attack on Tuesday forced US firm HKN Energy to suspend operations in the Sarsang field in Dohuk province.
On Monday, two drones hit the Khurmala field while another was shot down near the airport in the regional capital Arbil.
Politicians close to the Kurdish authorities have blamed pro-Iran groups for the attacks, without offering evidence.
The attacks come amid persistent tensions between the regional authorities and Baghdad over control of export revenues from the Kurdistan fields.
Legal disputes and technical problems have kept an export pipeline to Turkey shut since 2023.
With AFP
Comments