Iran Strikes Qatar LNG Hub After Israeli Attack on South Pars

Iran retaliated against an Israeli attack on its South Pars gas field by launching missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, causing extensive damage to liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and igniting sizeable fires. The Qatari government condemned the attacks as a 'direct threat to national security and regional stability', with emergency crews dispatched to tackle the resulting fires.

Ras Laffan is Qatar's main site for producing LNG, accounting for about one-fifth of the world's supply. The industrial hub includes facilities such as a gas-to-liquids plant, LNG storage, and an oil refinery, located 80km northeast of Doha near the world's largest gas field shared with Iran.

According to The Guardian, two of three fires ignited from the attack in Qatar were contained by 5 a.m. local time on March 19, though significant damage was reported at several LNG facilities. The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the largest release of government oil reserves in its history, totaling nearly 400 million barrels, as at least 15% of the world's oil supplies remain trapped inside the Gulf due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Israel acted alone in attacking South Pars and warned Iran against further strikes on Qatar, threatening to 'massively blow up' the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field if Tehran retaliates. The Guardian reported that Trump's efforts to deescalate did not reassure global markets, with oil prices rising sharply as concerns over economic impact mount.

Saudi Arabia has cut its oil production by 2 million barrels per day to around 8 million bpd after reducing output from two major offshore fields. Saudi Aramco informed oil buyers that it had no clear idea which port it would use for April exports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by Reuters. The UAE also shut down operations at its Habshan gas facility and Bab field after intercepting missiles fired in what its foreign ministry called a 'terrorist attack' by Iran.

The escalation has heightened fears of significant disruption to international energy supplies, with global leaders calling for a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump and the Emir of Qatar, urging all sides not to target energy facilities. The conflict has already caused unprecedented disruption to oil supplies, fueling a surge in prices and raising political stakes for Trump.

The U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran took a dangerous turn on March 18, 2026, with tit-for-tat strikes on critical energy infrastructure that amount to the most serious regional escalation since the conflict began. First, an Israeli drone strike targeted facilities at Iran’s Asaluyeh complex, damaging four plants that treat gas from the offshore South Pars field. Tehran vowed to retaliate by hitting five key energy targets in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Separate suspected Iranian aerial attacks also caused damage to oil refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and led to the closure of gas facilities in the United Arab Emirates. The offshore gas field that lies on both sides of the maritime boundary between Qatar and Iran is the world’s largest reserve of nonassociated gas, which means it is not connected to crude oil production.

The field, known as the North Field on the Qatari side and South Pars on the Iranian side, was discovered in 1971. Development of its massive resources began in earnest in the 1980s. While Israel attacked gas facilities in southern Iran on the second day of the 12-day war in June 2025, oil and gas infrastructure was largely spared during that earlier conflict.

The opening two weeks of the current fighting have seen a significant loosening of the restraints on targeting critical infrastructure. On March 8, Israel struck oil storage facilities in Tehran, starting large fires and blanketing the capital in plumes of smoke and toxic black rain. Iranian officials signaled that energy facilities were on the table as swarms of its drones targeted the Shaybah oil field in Saudi Arabia, the Shah gas fields southwest of Abu Dhabi, and oil facilities in Fujairah.

One of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates along with Abu Dhabi, Fujairah is strategically located on the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz. For this reason, it has grown into an important oil-loading and ship fuel-supplying hub and is the terminus for the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline.