Iran Attacks Gulf Refineries as Israel-Iran War Escalates, Oil Prices Jump
Key Takeaways
- Iran attacked Gulf energy facilities, including Qatar's LNG facilities.
- Brent crude traded around $112–$115 per barrel amid attacks.
- Iran warns zero restraint if infrastructure attacked again.
Gulf Infrastructure Attacks
Iran launched widespread attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf region Thursday, hitting multiple critical facilities.
“President Donald Trump pledged the U”
The coordinated strikes represented a dangerous escalation in the three-week-old conflict.
Iranian missiles and drones targeted Saudi Arabia's SAMREF refinery on the Red Sea coast, Qatar's Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, two major Kuwaiti oil refineries, and Abu Dhabi's Habshan gas facility and Bab field.
These attacks came directly after Israel struck the South Pars gas field, the world's largest gas field, which Iran blamed on Israel with US approval.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that the strike on Iran's energy infrastructure had 'effectively pushed the war into a new phase.'
The IRGC Navy announced full readiness to confront any threats in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
Market Price Surge
The attacks triggered an immediate and severe shock to global energy markets, with Brent crude oil prices spiking dramatically to as high as $118-119 per barrel.
This represented more than a 60% increase since Israel and the United States began the war on February 28.
International benchmark Brent crude had risen above $115 per barrel according to Anadolu Agency, while other sources reported prices reaching near $114 per barrel before climbing higher.
The market disruption extended beyond oil, with natural gas prices also surging 24% higher on Thursday as the European TTF benchmark traded at elevated levels.
Energy experts warned that the coordinated attacks could remove 5 to 6 million barrels per day from the market if core infrastructure like Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port were hit, potentially pushing oil prices to $150 or more according to Rystad Energy analysis.
The attacks came at a time when global markets were already reeling from Iran's effective chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.
Regional Condemnation
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates all denounced the strikes on their energy infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia's top diplomat stated that assaults on the kingdom meant 'what little trust there was before has completely been shattered.'
Qatar's energy facilities suffered 'sizable fires and extensive further damage' from Iranian missile strikes.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called the attacks a 'dangerous escalation' and condemned what he described as a 'flagrant' Iranian attack on the major gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
In response to the attacks, multiple Gulf states implemented emergency measures, with Qatar expelling Iranian attaches and authorities in Abu Dhabi forced to shut down operations at critical energy facilities.
The Saudi Defense Ministry confirmed it had intercepted six drones in Riyadh and Eastern province before the SAMREF refinery was hit, while Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency reported fires at oil refineries but no injuries.
US Intervention
The military escalation prompted direct intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump acknowledged that Israel had attacked Iran's South Pars gas field but claimed Washington 'knew nothing about this particular attack.'
Trump publicly pressured Israel to stop targeting Iran's energy fields and warned Iran to cease its attacks on Qatar's infrastructure.
Trump threatened that if such attacks continued, the U.S. would 'massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field.'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded by warning that further attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure would lead to 'uncontrollable repercussions whose effects extend to engulf the entire world.'
The Pentagon was reportedly seeking an additional $200 billion to fund the war effort.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed that American forces had struck more than 90 targets on Iran's Kharg Island, vital to Iran's oil network.
The Israeli military also reported killing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps spokesman Ali Mohammed Naini in a strike on Friday.
Long-term Consequences
The attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure are expected to have long-lasting consequences for global energy markets and regional strategies.
“Oil prices steady, Wall Street retreats as Iran war approaches its 4th week Oil prices steady, Wall Street retreats as Iran war approaches its 4th week Oil prices stabilized and Wall Street futures fell early Friday as Israel and Iran traded attacks in the three-week old war that has jolted global markets”
Experts warned that the damage to Qatar's Ras Laffan facility, the world's largest LNG export hub, could delay Qatar's ability to supply markets for up to five years according to state-owned QatarEnergy.
This disruption comes at a particularly sensitive time as many European countries have increased their dependence on Qatari LNG following the Ukraine war.
Gulf countries are now accelerating diversification efforts across multiple shipping routes, a change likely to persistently alter regional and global energy strategies.
The Iran war has effectively disrupted the Gulf's energy stability, escalating the Middle East risk premium in oil and gas markets while posing challenges to regional relations for the foreseeable future.
Market analysts indicated that while previously contracted shipments may provide temporary relief, new purchases will reflect elevated international prices.
The outlook for crude oil remains uncertain and dependent on the pace of escalation or de-escalation in geopolitical tensions.
Any easing of tensions could provide relief to global markets, but continued attacks on energy infrastructure could keep prices elevated or drive them even higher.
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