The largest natural gas field in the world and the largest natural gas production center in the world were attacked from one side and the other. The war is about to escalate
Attack on one side and respond at the same level on the other. As has happened almost every day, Iran decided to mirror the decisions of the United States and Israel, which this Wednesday hit the important oil and natural gas infrastructure in Pars, where a large part of the energy consumed by all Iranians is generated.
It is also part of one of the largest natural gas fields in the world, serving as a kind of backbone of Iran’s domestic energy system, which appears to continue to have problems preventing enemies from reaching their intended targets – witness the more recent deaths of Ali Larijani or Esmail Khatib, who served as leader of the National Security Council and minister of Secret Services, respectively, both in the highest places in the country’s political structure.
Iran promptly warned that this type of attack represented a significant escalation in the conflict, not least because it marked the first operation aimed at the country’s energy production, with the area’s petrochemical infrastructure also being the target of explosions.
Even before Iran, it was the markets that reacted: the prices of oil and natural gas rose and rose, threatening to confirm something that was already feared, and which should come into effect on Monday with more certainty. Yes, fuel prices should continue to rise, with the expectation of reaching two euros per liter, with gasoline potentially reaching the same level if the markets react more drastically.
But after high finance, it was military power that reacted. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued evacuation warnings for many of the region’s largest energy infrastructures, predicting a problem that later occurred.
In Ras Laffan, Qatar, where the largest liquefied natural gas production field in the world is located, the explosions were not long in coming. It is a location north of Doha that shares services, imagine, with the Pars plant, the same one that was attacked hours before.
Qatar Energy, the state-owned company and largest producer of natural gas and oil in Qatar, confirmed the existence of “extensive damage” after “missile attacks” were launched against the industrial city of Laffan.
Soon after, the Qatari Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack, speaking of two ballistic missiles that were shot down, which did not prevent the damage caused to the site.
The Qatari Ministry of Defense announces that the State of Qatar was attacked by (2) ballistic missiles from Iran, today, Wednesday, and our armed forces succeeded “by the grace of God” in confronting (2) ballistic missiles, in an attempt to target the Ras Laffan Industrial City.
May God protect Qatar, its Emir, its people, and those residing on its land.
The Qatari Ministry…
— Ministry of Defense – State of Qatar (@MOD_Qatar)
But there were also attacks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Iran demonstrating that the greatest weapon it can have is the damage it can inflict on the economies of neighboring countries, which are highly dependent on the production and export of fossil fuels.
In the afternoon, Brent had already risen 5% to 109 dollars per barrel, the highest price in more than a week, while natural gas prices in Europe rose 6.6% to close to 55 euros per megawatt per hour.
In statements reproduced by , a former head of Iran’s oil sector admitted that the war is “at the beginning of a much more dangerous phase”, as the attack on Pars means damage to the site that produces around two-thirds of all the natural gas that Iran consumes.
According to the United States Energy Information Administration, this is where 85% of all energy consumed by the country is produced. For the Iranian official, Iran “will reduce” Qatar’s natural gas platforms to zero if its main refineries are hit.”
Even Qatar seemed not to be entirely happy after the attack on Pars. “Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a serious threat to global energy security, as well as to the people of the region and their environment,” said Qatari government spokesman Majid al-Ansra.
Furthermore, as Reuters reports, neither the United States nor Israel claimed responsibility for the attack, even though the Israeli press is attributing the operation to Tel Aviv. Perhaps for this reason, Qatar blamed Israel in its statements, leaving the United States out of criticism.
With everything that was already happening in the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil passes, the Iranian authorities seem to have no desire to stop the threats. “The war pendulum has swung towards full-scale economic war,” said the president of the Assaluyeh natural gas plant, which is also part of the Pars complex.
Eskandar Pasalar speaks of an attack that could be a “political suicide” by the United States and Israel, as it makes the conflict enter a “new phase of war equations”.
“The region’s energy security has reached ground zero”, he reiterated, in comments that were published by the national press, and which are in line with Tehran’s rhetoric, which shows no signs of wanting to slow down its responses to the continuous attacks by the United States and Israel, which leaves the hypothesis that the war will still escalate in the air.
