Israel and the US struck Iran's giant South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, marking a significant crossing of a line that had held through three weeks of conflict. Four gas treatment facilities in southern Iran were damaged in US and Israeli drone strikes, according to Iranian state media, with gas treatment plants in Assaluyeh processing sour gas from phases 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the offshore South Pars gas field targeted.
The strike prompted swift retaliation. The Ras Laffan industrial complex in Qatar sustained damage after a missile attack on Wednesday, with emergency response teams deployed immediately to contain the resulting fires and extensive damage caused. About a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas is ordinarily shipped from Ras Laffan, making the facility one of the world's most critical energy infrastructure.
From Washington: The strategic rationale for the attack appears calculated. An Israeli official told journalist Barak Ravid that the strike on Wednesday on the key Iranian gas infrastructure was done by Israel with US approval and coordination. Gas infrastructure has faced less political blowback in the Trump administration than crude oil facilities, which risk sparking the inflation fears Washington is already grappling with.
Iran's response was immediate and wide-ranging. The warning, issued from state media, said facilities would be targeted by strikes in the coming hours and would target Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the UAE's Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar's Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex, Mesaieed Holding Company and Ras Laffan Refinery. These centres have become direct and legitimate targets and will be targeted in the coming hours, with all citizens, residents, and employees requested to immediately leave these areas and move to a safe distance without any delay.
The energy consequences reverberate globally. Brent oil climbed 3.8% to settle at $107.38 a barrel on Wednesday, while Europe's gas benchmark jumped 6%. For Australian consumers and exporters, the disruption carries real weight. Oil and gas prices surged amid fears of prolonged supply shortages; Brent crude oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel on 8 March 2026 for the first time in four years, rising up to US$126 per barrel at its peak.
Qatar's foreign ministry expressed alarm at the widening conflict. Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned Israel for targeting South Pars, noting that the Iranian gasfield is an extension of Qatar's North Field and calling the attack a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region.
What makes this moment particularly destabilising is the underlying vulnerability of global energy supplies. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial lifeline for much of the world's oil supply. This disruption affected about 20% of the world's daily oil supply and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas, with the closure of the strait described as the largest disruption to the energy supply since the 1970s energy crisis and the largest in the history of the global oil market.
Intelligence officials have indicated the Trump administration was aware of these risks. President Trump and the Pentagon were aware that Iran would target the Strait of Hormuz and global energy producers in response to Operation Epic Fury, with the Director of National Intelligence and CIA Director telling the Senate Intelligence Committee that their agencies briefed the Trump administration regularly on how Iran would respond.
The fundamental problem is clear: the more the conflict spreads to energy infrastructure, the higher the global cost. Further strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure could threaten up to 3.4 million barrels per day of crude output and around 1.5 million barrels per day of exports. With Qatar having already fully shut its liquefied natural gas production due to the war, cutting 20 percent of the world's liquid natural gas supplies, and warned any damage to facilities could extend the outage beyond May, the room for escalation remains dangerous and real.