The primary driver behind the price spike was a series of kinetic strikes on Iranian oil facilities and the subsequent expansion of the conflict. Reports confirmed Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran’s South Pars gas field, but the US and Qatar were not involved, Trump said late Wednesday.
In a retaliatory move that sent shockwaves through trading floors, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a formal warning that it would target oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar.
Because these three nations represent approximately 20–25% of global crude exports, the threat transformed a regional conflict into a systemic risk for the global economy.
Recent missile and drone attacks have caused major damage to energy facilities across several countries, some of the attacks are listed below:
Qatar: Missiles hit the world’s largest LNG (natural gas) plants and a major Shell facility, stopping production and causing European gas prices to spike.
Saudi Arabia: The military stopped several missiles and drones, but an aerial attack on a refinery in Yanbu briefly disrupted oil shipments.
Kuwait: A drone strike started a fire at a refinery, though it was contained.
For context, Iranian attacks have knocked out 17% of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia, QatarEnergy’s CEO told Reuters on Thursday.
QatarEnergy had declared force majeure on its entire output of LNG, after earlier attacks on its Ras Laffan production hub, which came under fire again on Wednesday.
In response to the rising tension, the Trump administration is reportedly considering sending thousands more US troops to the region to support ongoing operations.
