Iran hits Qatar refinery, targets Saudi Arabia, after huge gas field struck

Iran's huge Pars gas field was hit on Wednesday in a major escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war that sent oil prices shooting higher, and Tehran struck Qatar and fired missiles ‌at Saudi Arabia after vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf, Reuters reported.

Qatar's state oil giant QatarEnergy reported "extensive damage" after the Ras Laffan Industrial City, an energy-industry hub, was hit by Iranian missiles. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh on Wednesday and an attempted drone attack on a gas facility in the east of the country.

The escalation threatens to worsen an unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies that has raised the political stakes for U.S. President Donald Trump. Diesel prices in the United States have already ​risen above $5 a gallon for the first time since the 2022 inflation surge that eroded support for his predecessor Joe Biden.

The conflict that has already halted shipping from the world's most important energy-producing region and ​could now bring lasting damage to its infrastructure. Benchmark Brent crude prices rose around 5% to above $108. Stock markets veered lower.

Iran's Fars news agency reported that gas tanks and parts of a refinery had been hit. It said workers had been evacuated and state media later said the fire there was under control.

Qatar, a close U.S. ally which hosts the ​largest U.S. airbase in the region, blamed the attack on Israel, without mentioning any U.S. role, and called it "dangerous and irresponsible" that put global energy security at risk. The UAE also denounced the attack.

Iran listed an array of prominent regional ​oil and gas facilities it called "direct and legitimate targets" - Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the UAE's Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar's Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex, Mesaieed Holding Company and the Ras Laffan Refinery.

It said they should be evacuated at once before ‌it struck them ⁠in the coming hours.

The U.S. and Israel had previously held back from targeting Iran's energy production facilities in the Gulf, averting Iranian retaliation against the oil and gas industries of its neighbours.

Iran has already shut the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply, but consuming nations have hoped the disruption would prove short-lived as long as production infrastructure was spared.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke by phone on Wednesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and said safe passage through the Strait was a priority for Europe and that the EU supports a diplomatic solution to the war.