Every major Gulf energy asset was placed in Iran’s crosshairs on Wednesday after Israeli forces attacked the South Pars gasfield and the Revolutionary Guards threatened sweeping strikes against facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Specific sites were named and evacuation orders issued. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the prospect of every major Gulf energy asset being in Iran’s crosshairs alarmed global markets and governments.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli attack — reportedly with US authorization — was unprecedented in its targeting of Iranian fossil fuel production. Both countries had previously avoided this move, but the decision to attack South Pars placed every major Gulf energy asset in Iran’s crosshairs for the first time — and the Revolutionary Guards wasted no time in acting on that positioning.
Named targets included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities — among the Gulf’s most significant and strategically important energy assets. Workers and residents were ordered to evacuate without delay. Governor Eskandar Pasalar of Asaluyeh called the US-Israeli attack “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a full-scale economic war.
Brent crude climbed to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas prices jumped more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had maintained its own crude exports through the strait unimpeded while blocking Gulf neighbors’ shipments — a strategic weapon that had given it significant economic leverage. The placing of every major Gulf energy asset in Iran’s crosshairs threatened to extend the supply disruption to catastrophic levels.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that targeting energy infrastructure endangered global energy security, regional populations, and the environment. The world faced a situation in which not a single major Gulf energy asset could be considered safe from military action — a situation without modern precedent and with consequences that extended to every energy market and economy on the planet. The coming hours would determine how many of those crosshairs would be turned into actual strikes.