The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has accused Khor Mor gas field operators of breaching contract by unilaterally routing supplies to federal Iraq. The consortium sharply rebutted the claim.

In a statement issued on August 6, the KRG said it had been informed only on August 4 by Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas, joint operators of Khor Mor, that deliveries to Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity (MoE) for power generation had begun, with the notification arriving at the same time as the companies’ public announcement.

The KRG described the move as “a breach of their contractual obligations” and “an unwarranted interference in the institutional arrangements governing the relationship between the KRG and the Federal Government”. It said it “neither approved nor authorised this action” and rejected the operators’ public thanks for its support as “inaccurate and misleading”.

Erbil said it had repeatedly asked the operators for extra volumes to feed power facilities in the Kurdistan Region in which it had sunk substantial public funds, only for the joint venture to “proceed unilaterally”. It added that it was reviewing “the legal, contractual and operational consequences” and would act to protect its rights under the Khor Mor contract.

Pearl Petroleum, the consortium behind the field, hit back on August 7. In a statement issued through operators Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, it said it was “surprised” by the KRG’s intervention and called the Kirkuk supply “a landmark achievement that enhances and strengthens the security of electricity supply for the entire country”.

Pearl said the KRG had been aware of the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) with the MoE since January 2026 and had been given a copy, following years of discussions in which the Ministry of Natural Resources had been “regularly updated”. The GSA, it argued, was concluded “in strict compliance with Pearl’s exclusive marketing rights, which have been previously upheld in multiple international legal proceedings”, and required no further KRG sign-off.

The consortium also pushed back on the financial subtext, noting that the KRG has been “materially in arrears for over 3 years” on its own payment obligations. The 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcf per day) being sent to Kirkuk is drawn from surplus capacity created by the KM250 expansion and comes on top of 655 mmcf per day already supplied to KRG-run power plants, it said.

Pearl said it had invested more than $4bn in the Kurdistan Region since 2007.