Qatar's Ras Laffan, Iran's South Pars, and other Gulf energy hubs hit as West Asia conflict takes economic turn

The war between US-Israel and the Iran is steadily undergoing concerning transformation - it is pivoting away from traditional military installations toward the economic lifeline of the modern world: energy infrastructures across West Asia.

In a series of high-stakes escalations that have sent global oil prices soaring, both sides and their regional neighbours are steadily getting locked in a conflict where the primary targets are no longer barracks and bunkers, but gas fields and refineries.

Also Read | Strikes hit world's largest natural gas field in Iran, and Tehran retaliates with more attacks as West Asia war continues


From Qatar’s Ras Laffan to Iran’s South Pars and Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi complex to Saudi’s Shaybah refineries, the list of West Asian energy sites untouched by the fire of conflict is becoming increasingly shorter - with Kuwait’s key refinery now hit repeatedly.

The "South Pars" spark

The transition to infrastructure warfare intensified following an Israeli strike on Iran’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field.

While the Trump administration stated the US "knew nothing about this particular attack", the strike targeted a pillar of Iranian energy.

Analysts from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs noted that South Pars is central to Iran’s electricity and industrial activity, and even limited disruptions cause immediate economic strain.

“South Pars is central to Iran’s gas supply and, by extension, to electricity generation and industrial activity,” Hamidreza Azizi told Bloomberg by email. “Even limited or temporary disruptions can translate into power shortages, industrial slowdowns, and broader economic strain.”

Also Read | West Asia War: Qatari complex housing world’s largest liquefied natural gas export plant suffers 'extensive damage' from Iranian strike

Iran’s response was swift and expanded the hand of war to neutral ground.

Iranian missiles struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s premier liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub.

QatarEnergy confirmed that the attacks on Wednesday and early Thursday caused sizeable fires and extensive further damage, specifically hitting the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) facility.

"In addition to the previous attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday 18 March 2026 that resulted in extensive damage to the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility, QatarEnergy confirms that in the early hours of Thursday 19 March 2026, several of its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities were the subject of missile attacks, causing sizeable fires and extensive further damage," the world's second-largerst exporter said in an official statement.

Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting damage with no reported casualties.

In a diplomatic rupture, Qatar declared Iranian attaches persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 24 hours following what it called a flagrant violation of sovereignty and a direct threat to national security.

The Gulf’s dangerous escalation

The energy war has rapidly engulfed the broader Persian Gulf.

In the United Arab Emirates, authorities reported a dangerous escalation after falling debris from intercepted missiles forced the temporary shutdown of the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab oil field.

In Kuwait, the situation worsened further on Thursday, as drone strikes hit two refineries, including the massive Mina Al-Ahmadi complex, sparking fires but causing no reported injuries.

The escalation continued into Friday, when multiple drones again struck the same Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, triggering fresh fires in some units. Firefighting teams responded swiftly, and several units were shut down as a precaution, though no casualties were reported.

Further west, the Saudi Ministry of Defence reported neutralising a swarm of drones targeting the Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert. The Ras Tanura refinery along Saudi Arabia’s eastern Gulf coast, one of the largest in the Middle East with a capacity of around 550,000 barrels per day, has also been previously hit by Iranian attacks earlier in the conflict, causing fires and temporary disruption before operations later resumed.

Follow lives updates of the West Asia War

As Iran labels energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait as legitimate targets according to the Tasnim News Agency, the regional toll is mounting.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Kharg Island near the Strait of Hormuz, located about 30 kilometres off its mainland and responsible for roughly 90% of the country’s crude oil exports, was struck in earlier US attacks.

Iraq reported a loss of power generation after Iran halted gas supplies, while Kuwait announced arrests involving a group affiliated with Hezbollah that had allegedly foiled a plot to target vital facilities.

Tom Marzec-Manser of Wood Mackenzie Ltd told Bloomberg News that a retaliatory attack on Ras Laffan is exactly what the global natural gas market feared the most, noting there is no strategic reserve for LNG.

“A retaliatory attack on Ras Laffan is exactly what the global natural gas market feared the most… it’s going to be bullish for gas prices when the market opens on Thursday," he said.


Trump issues warning as markets reel

The shift toward economic targets has pushed Brent crude prices up sharply since the war began, with oil briefly crossing $119 a barrel on Friday as markets reacted to continued threats to energy supply.

As US gasoline prices hit a two-year high of $3.84 a gallon earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued a series of strong warnings, even as signs of limited restraint began to emerge on energy infrastructure strikes.

According to recent developments, Israel has indicated it will hold off further attacks on Iran’s South Pars gas field following a warning from Washington.

While distancing the US from the initial strike, Trump warned that any escalation by Iran targeting Qatar would trigger a severe response, including the possibility of a large-scale strike on the South Pars field. He stressed that Washington had no prior knowledge of the Israeli attack and that Qatar was not involved.

This rhetoric comes amid heightened military activity in the region, including earlier US strikes on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz, which remains a critical and vulnerable chokepoint for global oil supplies.