Assaults on Energy Plants Open Unpredictable Front

 

 

“The latest attacks on oil-and-gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf region marked a dangerous phase for the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, worsening an energy-supply crisis that is spreading worldwide.

 

Here is a look at the energy facilities that have been hit since the war started, where they are and why they matter:

 

Israel on Wednesday struck an installation of Iran's South Pars, part of the world's largest gas fields, shared by Iran and Qatar. South Pars produces 730 million cubic meters of gas a day, mostly for Iranian users.

 

Iran, having warned of an attack on its energy assets as a red line, retaliated. Between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were attacked.

 

Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the site of the world's largest liquefied-natural gas plant, was attacked twice. Iranian missiles damaged Pearl GTL, the world's largest gas-to-liquids plant, developed by Shell and QatarEnergy. Separately, a missile barrage was fired at Riyadh Wednesday evening. Debris landed near a refinery that has a capacity of 130,000 barrels a day and serves Riyadh's domestic-fuel market.

 

Attacks continued Thursday, with drone strikes hitting Kuwait's Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi refineries. Fires are under control, but operations at both refineries are suspended.

 

To the west, Saudi Arabia's Samref refinery in the Red Sea city of Yanbu was hit.

 

A missile was fired toward Yanbu's port but was intercepted.

 

The port is crucial for Saudi oil exports. With the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the kingdom has relied on pumping crude through its east-west pipeline to the port of Yanbu, and from there to global markets. Disruptions there could remove five million to six million barrels a day from the market and push oil prices to $150 or higher, said Aditya Saraswat, an analyst at Rystad Energy.

 

The U.S. on March 13 bombed military targets on Kharg Island, a spot of land a third the size of Manhattan that is the launch point of roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports.

 

Although oil facilities on the island were spared, President Trump warned he would reconsider if Iran didn't open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

 

The Shah gas field, southwest of Abu Dhabi and home to the world's largest ultrasour gas operation, had a drone strike Tuesday. The fire is under control, but operations have been suspended. Ultrasour gas is used to produce petrochemical feedstock and methane for heating and cooking.

 

Saudi Aramco's Berri oil field had minor damage on March 7 by debris from an intercepted drone. Several Iranian fuel-storage facilities in Tehran belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were struck that day. Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery suspended operation after an Iranian drone hit an oil-storage facility at the site. The complex was again targeted March 4. The refinery has restarted.

 

The United Arab Emirate's port of Fujairah, a hub for oil loadings outside the Strait of Hormuz, has been repeatedly hit by drones. It is also a hub for oil storage, trading and ship refueling. Operations at the port have been on and off for days, raising concern about the vulnerability of alternative oil routes that bypass the strait.

 

Iran has repeatedly hit tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime chokepoint through which 20% of the world's oil and LNG supply passes.” [1]

 

1. World News: Assaults on Energy Plants Open Unpredictable Front. Feng, Rebecca; Churchill, Carl.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 21 Mar 2026: A6.