Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
The war between US-Israel forces and Iran has reached another tipping point, as more energy sites in the region have been attacked, causing damage, shutdowns and further uncertainty on its endgame.
Each strike is adding to the pile-up of energy concerns, economic shocks and the scramble to defend facilities critical to one of the world's most vital commodities.
Brent crude prices shot up again on Thursday, reaching $118 a barrel after major energy sites were attacked on Wednesday.
This was after Bank of America and Standard Chartered, along with other financial institutions, had upped their oil forecasts citing a prolonged supply shock, with the likelihood of a long-tail disruption of energy markets.
As a result, economists have also raised their forecasts for inflation, adding pressure on decision-makers trying to keep interest rates stable.
What had been treated as geopolitical risk now has institutions planning for long-term disruption to global energy supplies, a shift reflected in a growing list of direct attacks on critical energy infrastructure.
South Pars and Asaluyeh
Energy assets at Iran's giant South Pars and Asaluyeh were attacked by Israel on Wednesday, in what the UAE deemed a “dangerous escalation”.
The South Pars field, jointly owned by Qatar and which it calls North Dome, is the world’s largest gas reserve, with about 1,800 trillion cubic feet of usable gas.
QatarEnergy produces about 18.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas from North Dome, enabling the Gulf state to supply about a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas.
Iran's share of the field is more modest, constrained for decades by sanctions and underinvestment. Iran directs most of the gas it produces towards domestic use rather than export.
Meanwhile, Asaluyeh, a port city on the coast in Iran's Bushehr province, is the onshore processing centre for the South Pars gasfield and home to a dense cluster of petrochemical plants, refineries and export terminals. Any disruption in Asaluyeh would affect Iran's ability to process and export hydrocarbons from the field.
The strike on South Pars, in particular, represents “the definitive trigger” for a massive escalation in the Middle East, said Francesco Sassi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo who specialises in geopolitics.
“It is clear that this strike is unprecedented. It serves as a likely trigger for the systematic targeting of other energy infrastructure across the region,” he said.
“We are now in a state of clear-cut energy war, leading to a subsequent energy crisis of catastrophic global proportions.”
Ras Laffan
Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan – one of the world’s most important gas processing and export centres – have caused significant damage. Authorities said the fires at the complex have been contained.
Ras Laffan, about 80km north-east of Doha, has storage and export facilities for vast natural gas resources. It is also close to the international maritime shipping route. About 115,000 people are employed on the site, according to QatarEnergy's website.
“This represents a major escalation for Qatar. Ras Laffan … [is] a cornerstone of both the country’s economy and the global gas market,” said Dennis Steinherz, president of trading platform Helium24 USA.
“The scale of the damage could have serious implications not only for Qatar, but also for global energy flows and commodity markets.”
Habshan and Bab
Iran has also attempted further attacks on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with the latter's Habshan gas plant and Bab field in Abu Dhabi the focus of a strike. The gas facilities have been shut down and no injuries have been reported, Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
Habshan, operated by Adnoc Gas, is one of the world’s largest gas processing facilities, with five plants home to 14 processing trains and a capacity of 6.1 billion standard cubic feet per day, according to the company. The Bab field is another complex, along with Asab and Buhasa, that processes gas.
The UAE is the 10th-biggest producer of natural gas, with nearly 3.2 MMcF (million cubic feet) in annual production, data from Worldometers shows.
Kharg Island
US President Donald Trump initially said last Friday's attacks on Kharg Island were aimed at military facilities in the area. However, he has threatened to target the island's oil infrastructure if Iran continues to “interfere” with the passage of vessels in the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz.
Kharg Island, also known as the Forbidden Island, is a small coral island about 30km off Iran's south-western coast, where petroleum from the country's oilfields arrives through undersea pipelines to be loaded on to tankers.
The island, which is also a wildlife haven, handles about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, with estimates pegging its loading capacity at 7 million barrels per day and storage capacity at 30 million barrels.
Most shipments from Kharg Island go to Asian customers, and a significant majority, or about 80 per cent, goes to China.
“Kharg Island was never just another target. [The attack] showed how quickly military pressure can raise oil market risk, even when supply remains unaffected for now,” analysts at London-based consultancy Crystol Energy said.
Mina Al Ahmadi
The latest site to be targeted was Kuwait's Mina Al Ahmadi refinery, about 50km south of the country's capital. It is one of the largest oil refineries in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of approximately 730,000 barrels per day, according to engineering firm RWDI.
The drone strike on Thursday resulted in “limited fire” but caused no injuries in the unit, which is operated by Kuwait National Petroleum Company, the Kuwait News Agency said.
As of 2025, Kuwait has crude reserves of about 101.5 billion barrels per day, making it the seventh-largest oil-producing country, and accounts for almost 6 per cent of global reserves, according to Worldometer.
Ripple effects
Other Gulf energy facilities that have been hit are the 550,000 bpd Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia and Iraq's Majnoon oilfield, which was targeted twice.
In the UAE, targets have included Abu Dhabi's Shah gas plant, which supplies about 20 per cent of the Emirates' gas and 5 per cent of the world's granulated sulphur, while drone debris caused a fire at the Port of Fujairah. The latter, in tandem with an attack on Oman's Port of Salalah, form a broader pattern of targeting alternative routes to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for a fifth of the world's crude shipments.
The escalating situation has caused oil prices to remain elevated: crude again spiked on Thursday morning and continued to rise, with Brent jumping nearly 6 per cent and West Texas Intermediate adding about 1 per cent at 12.30pm UAE time.
Crude's importance to the global economic engine cannot be understated. The Iran conflict is not just concentrated on the Middle East, rather, it is a reminder of how fragile global energy security remains, said Gabriele Cathlin, a commercial associate at Rystad Energy.
“The crisis underscores the geopolitical risks embedded in global energy supply chains and the growing strategic importance of renewable energy for long-term resilience,” she said.
Analysts at Syndicate Capital said the conflict has “rapidly evolved” from a regional military confrontation into a global economic shock – rippling over to stock markets and commodities.
“The economic consequences have been swift. Governments are scrambling to stabilise energy markets, yet early policy responses have failed to calm investors,” they said.
