Middle East Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Iran’s state media report that Israeli forces attacked facilities at Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, the world’s largest gas reservoir, with installations near Asaluyeh on the Persian Gulf coast burning on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. South Pars, which Iran shares underground with Qatar’s North Field, is Tehran’s main source of natural gas for electricity and home heating in a heavily subsidized system that already struggles with shortages and blackouts. Unlike earlier Hormuz attacks that choked crude and LNG exports, this strike appears aimed at Iran’s domestic energy lifeline, but it still pushed global oil prices higher and sent European gas prices up about 7% on fears of further disruption. Tehran has vowed to retaliate by striking energy facilities in other Gulf states, even though countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Iraq and the UAE are not participating in U.S.–Israeli operations against Iran, raising the risk of a broader regional energy war. Analysts warn that any follow‑on attacks on Gulf oil and LNG infrastructure would intensify an Iran war–driven supply squeeze that is already feeding into higher fuel and power costs worldwide, including in the United States.