Brent crude prices rose more than 4% on Wednesday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened several energy facilities across Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar in retaliation for an attack on its energy sites by the US and Israel, heightening the risk of further disruptions to energy supplies in the region.
Parts of Iran’s South Pars gas field and nearby oil facilities came under a US-Israeli strike on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported, marking a major escalation targeting energy infrastructure.
State television said petrochemical installations in South Pars and surrounding facilities were hit, without providing details on damage or casualties. The field, located in Bushehr province, is Iran’s largest and part of the world’s biggest offshore gas reserve shared with Qatar.
Israeli media, citing officials, said the strike targeted a gas processing plant and marked the first attack on Iran’s economic infrastructure, in line with an expanded escalation.
Axios reported the Israeli Air Force carried out the strike with US coordination and approval.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had previously warned it would retaliate in kind if its energy infrastructure were targeted, threatening strikes on oil and gas facilities in Israel and across the Gulf.
With no signs of de-escalation in the Iran conflict, benchmark Brent futures prices have settled above $100 per barrel for the past four sessions.
Brent futures were up $4.53, or 4.4%, at $107.95 a barrel by 1321 GMT on Wednesday, having risen to as high as $108.60 earlier in the session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.91, or 2%, to $98.12.
“The attacks on Iran’s South Pars field were boosting oil and gas prices, and any further escalations of attacks to energy infrastructure would continue to raise prices”, SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye said.
Iran’s Fars news agency said on Wednesday some tanks and gas facilities in the country’s Asaluyeh refinery had been hit.
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
