A shiver ran through global energy markets on Wednesday as Iran threatened to effectively shut down Gulf energy infrastructure following an Israeli strike on the South Pars gasfield. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as imminent targets and issued evacuation orders. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the threat of a Gulf energy shutdown sent market anxiety to levels not seen since the conflict’s earliest days.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar and fundamental to Iran’s gas export economy. The Israeli strike — reportedly with US authorization — was the first direct attack on Iranian fossil fuel production in the conflict. Both Washington and Tel Aviv had deliberately avoided this step, understanding that crossing it could trigger the kind of effective Gulf energy shutdown now being threatened.
Iran’s state broadcaster named Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities as targets for strikes within hours. Workers and residents were told to leave without any delay. The governor of Asaluyeh province called the US-Israeli escalation “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a total economic war phase.
Brent crude rose nearly 5% to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas benchmarks surged more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already been cut by 60% from pre-war volumes due to sustained infrastructure attacks and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait while blocking Gulf neighbors from doing so — 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 shiver that ran through markets reflected a fundamental truth: the world’s dependence on Gulf energy made it uniquely vulnerable to what Iran was threatening. With specific targets named and a tight window set, the shiver was entirely justified — and the coming hours would determine whether it would become a full-scale shock.