Iran signaled the beginning of a total energy war on Wednesday after Israeli forces struck the South Pars gasfield, with the Revolutionary Guards threatening sweeping strikes against Gulf energy infrastructure and declaring a full economic conflict. Facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar were named as imminent targets and workers ordered to evacuate. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the prospect of a total energy war raised fears of global consequences unlike anything the modern world had experienced.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar and has been the foundation of Iran’s energy economy throughout the conflict. The Israeli strike — reportedly with US consent — was the first direct attack on Iranian fossil fuel production. Both Washington and Tel Aviv had previously avoided this move, but crossing this line triggered Iran’s most total and encompassing military threat of the war.
Threatened facilities listed by Iran’s state media included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan installations. All workers and residents were told to leave immediately. The governor of Asaluyeh province condemned the US-Israeli strike as “political suicide” and declared Iran was now in a full-scale economic war with global consequences.
Brent crude rose nearly 5% to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas benchmarks surged more than 7.5% to over €55.50 per megawatt hour. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to sustained infrastructure attacks and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait unimpeded while blocking Gulf neighbors’ shipments — a strategic weapon that had given it significant economic leverage throughout the conflict.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that attacking energy infrastructure was a grave threat to global energy security, the environment, and millions of regional residents. The signal of total energy war that Iran had sent was one with consequences that were feared in every economy that depended on Gulf supply — which was to say, most of the global economy. The coming hours would determine whether the signal would become reality.