Fuel crisis grips northern Iraq after attacks halt energy production

Drones targeted sites in the northern Iraqi cities of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah early Friday, triggering fresh explosions, according to local media, highlighting the continued security instability across the country’s Kurdish Region.

The latest attacks come as northern Iraq continues to grapple with a deepening fuel crisis triggered by earlier strikes that disrupted energy production, leaving motorists waiting hours at filling stations, slashing electricity supplies and driving up cooking gas prices.

Across Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok, motorists are spending hours outside filling stations, with some waiting overnight, as fuel shortages continue to ripple through the region. Electricity supplies have also been severely disrupted, while cooking gas prices have surged amid dwindling supplies.

The crisis followed attacks by Iran and Iran-backed groups on Erbil and Sulaymaniyah that forced energy companies operating in the Kurdish Region to suspend production, cutting fuel supplies and choking off natural gas deliveries to power plants.

The impact has spread across Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok, where long queues have formed outside filling stations as residents scramble to secure increasingly scarce fuel.

Electricity generation has also taken a heavy hit.

Power supply, once available around the clock, has fallen to just five or six hours a day as reduced gas flows forced power plants to scale back production during the peak summer season.

The shortages have even prompted authorities to bring privately operated neighborhood generators back into service after previously shutting them down over environmental concerns.

Price controls fail to ease shortages

The fallout has extended well beyond the electricity sector.

Cooking gas cylinders have become increasingly difficult to obtain, with black-market prices more than doubling to between 25,000 and 30,000 Iraqi dinars ($19-$23), up from 12,000-15,000 dinars ($9-$11.50) before the attacks.

Gasoline prices have also surged as supplies tightened.

Premium gasoline rose to 1,900 dinars ($1.46) per liter from 1,550 dinars ($1.19), while improved-grade fuel climbed to 1,600 dinars ($1.23) from 1,250 ($0.96). Regular gasoline increased to 1,400 dinars ($1.07) from 850 ($0.65).

The Kurdish Regional Government attempted to contain the crisis by imposing price ceilings, setting premium gasoline at 1,200 dinars ($0.92) per liter, improved-grade fuel at 1,000 dinars ($0.77) and regular gasoline at 850 dinars.

The measures, however, failed to ease the shortages.

Many filling stations suspended sales after running out of fuel, while those that remained open drew hours-long queues. Some motorists lined up the night before in hopes of securing fuel the following morning.

Conflict exposes structural weaknesses

Energy expert Rebin Samad said the shortages reflected not only the military escalation but also longstanding structural weaknesses in the region’s energy sector.

“The conflict between Iran and the United States has disrupted petroleum supplies across Iraq,” Samad told Anadolu.

He said the fighting had interrupted shipments of chemical additives essential for gasoline production while forcing oil companies to suspend operations, reducing crude deliveries to local refineries.

The Kurdish Regional Government’s lack of its own refining capacity has further limited its ability to stabilize prices or offset supply disruptions, he said, adding that political disputes have compounded the crisis.

Samad urged authorities to temporarily exempt gasoline-production chemicals from customs duties and reduce taxes on filling stations to ease pressure on the market.

Demand far outstrips supply

Jangi Majid, head of the Union of Fuel Stations in Erbil, said the city requires around 2.2 million liters of gasoline each day but currently receives only 1 million liters of subsidized fuel.

Commercial supplies that once filled the gap have also declined as production problems reduced the availability of premium and improved-grade gasoline.

The shortfall has pushed motorists toward cheaper state-subsidized fuel, overwhelming filling stations and sharply increasing waiting times, Majid said.

He added that supply disruptions have also affected gasoline deliveries previously arriving from Mosul and through Iraq’s federal government.

Despite the ongoing shortages, Majid said demand for premium fuel has begun to ease and expressed optimism that market conditions and prices would gradually stabilize.