The Iran-Israel conflict entered a dangerous new energy war dimension on Wednesday after Israeli forces struck the South Pars gasfield and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened sweeping retaliation against Gulf energy hubs. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar were placed on notice as specific facilities were named and evacuation orders issued. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel in response.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve shared between Iran and Qatar, had been deliberately left out of the conflict until Wednesday. Israel’s strike on the field, reportedly with US approval, ended an implicit agreement that energy infrastructure would remain off-limits. The decision reflected a strategic shift — and it immediately provoked Iran’s most expansive and specific military threats of the entire war.
Threatened facilities included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed complex and Ras Laffan refinery. Iran’s state media broadcast urgent evacuation orders to workers and residents. The Asaluyeh provincial governor called the US-Israeli strike “political suicide” and said the war had entered a full-scale economic phase.
Oil prices climbed to $108.60 a barrel — a nearly 5% gain in a single session — while European gas markets jumped more than 7.5%. The moves came against an already desperate backdrop: Gulf oil exports had fallen 60% from pre-war levels, the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively blockaded, and multiple energy facilities had already been destroyed in earlier drone and missile strikes. Iran’s new threats cast further doubt on the Gulf’s ability to maintain any meaningful energy export capacity.
Qatar’s spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that attacking energy infrastructure endangered global energy security and millions of people across the region. With the conflict now explicitly targeting the Gulf’s energy backbone, the stakes extended far beyond the Middle East. The world’s dependence on Gulf oil and gas had made it a hostage to a conflict that showed no signs of abating.
