Oil and European natural gas prices jumped after Israel struck a natural gas processing facility in southwestern Iran, and Iran retaliated by attacking a major liquid-natural-gas complex in Qatar, escalating fears over energy supply disruptions.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 3.3% to $98.60 a barrel in early Asian trading, while Brent climbed past $110 per barrel. Europe’s benchmark gas prices surged 6% on Wednesday, according to ICE Futures Europe data, which measures the price of liquefied natural gas.
On Wednesday morning, Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, which is an offshore facility that Iran shares with Qatar, and is the largest such facility in the world. Shortly after, Iran hit Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The move follows prior warnings from Tehran about potential strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, rattling markets already sensitive to geopolitical risk and raising concerns about further volatility in global energy supplies.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry wrote on X on Wednesday that Civil Defense crews were tackling a fire at Ras Laffan Industrial City, a critical natural gas hub for the country’s economy, “following an Iranian targeting.”
The Foreign Ministry of Qatar said in a statement that the strike marks “a dangerous escalation, a flagrant violation of state sovereignty, and a direct threat to its national security and regional stability.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
