Facilities belonging to Iran's oil industry in South Pars and Asaluyeh were attacked on Wednesday, Iranian state media said, prompting Tehran to warn that it would target energy installations across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Reuters reported.
Oil prices jumped on the news, with Brent crude futures gaining more than 6% to a session high just shy of $110 per barrel. Analysts have warned that any attack in South Pars would raise the possibility of retaliatory attacks by Iran on Gulf energy facilities including those belonging to oil majors in Qatar.
Qatar called it an Israeli attack without mentioning any U.S. role. The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson called it a "dangerous and irresponsible" escalation that put global energy security at risk.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Qatar has fully shut its liquefied natural gas production because of the war, cutting 20% of the world’s LNG supplies, and any damage to facilities could extend the outage beyond May.
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