A war that began in late February now reaches into the gas that keeps distant cities warm and factories running. Missiles have struck Qatar's Ras Laffan complex, the same industrial heart that feeds liquefied natural gas to the world, and an American president has answered with a conditional vow to lay waste to Iran's South Pars field. It is a reminder that in an interdependent age, a quarrel fought over one stretch of water and a few gas plants can quickly become a question of whether the lights stay on far from the battlefield.
Trump Threatens to Destroy Iran's South Pars Gas Field as Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG Complex Is Hit Again
Qatar's LNG facilities are attacked again, the US will blow up South Pars
Mark
Trump's threat is conditional. What exactly is he saying?
Mimi
That Israel hit South Pars, that Qatar had nothing to do with it, and that Israel stops unless Iran attacks Qatar. If Qatar's LNG sites are hit again, the US would destroy the whole field, with or without Israel.
Luke
Worth noting that's his account. He says he didn't know about the South Pars strike and that Israel did it. The reporting carries those as his statements, not independently confirmed facts.
Mark
And Qatar was hit anyway.
Mimi
Yes. Ras Laffan was struck on 18 March, damaging the Pearl GTL facility, and again early on 19 March, with several LNG facilities hit and sizeable fires.
Luke
But QatarEnergy gave no further details on the second attack. We don't know the scale of lost output or how long repairs would take.
Mark
Why did oil jump?
Mimi
Iran named Gulf energy sites as targets, and Brent hit $112.86 while WTI reached $110.02.
Luke
Those are intraday highs, and the move is tied to a pattern of attacks, not one event. Also, Iran listed targets, but the source doesn't confirm which of them have actually been hit.
Mark
What about shipping?
Mimi
UKMTO counts more than 20 incidents since 28 February and says there's no Western-ownership pattern, which points to broad disruption.
Luke
That's UKMTO's reading of the pattern. And the Hormuz figure of about 4/d is observed traffic, with no baseline given here for comparison.
Der Puls
- Missiles have struck Ras Laffan again, and QatarEnergy reports sizeable fires and extensive damage across several LNG facilities.
- Crude prices surged, with Brent touching $112.86 a barrel as traders braced for the loss of energy supply.
- Trump has threatened to obliterate Iran's South Pars gas field if Qatar's LNG sites are struck once more, while claiming Israel carried out the earlier attack.
- Iran has named five Gulf energy sites in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE as targets to be hit in the coming hours.
- Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed to about four vessels a day, with over twenty maritime incidents logged since hostilities began.
A war that began in late February now reaches into the gas that keeps distant cities warm and factories running. Missiles have struck Qatar's Ras Laffan complex, the same industrial heart that feeds liquefied natural gas to the world, and an American president has answered with a conditional vow to lay waste to Iran's South Pars field. It is a reminder that in an interdependent age, a quarrel fought over one stretch of water and a few gas plants can quickly become a question of whether the lights stay on far from the battlefield.
President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will destroy Iran's South Pars gas field if Tehran continues attacking Qatar. His words arrived just before QatarEnergy reported fresh missile strikes on Ras Laffan, the complex that anchors Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports, leaving several facilities on fire and badly damaged.
The violence traces back to an Iranian vow of retaliation after what it described as American and Israeli strikes on its gas treatment plants. Tehran named five sites as legitimate targets, spanning refineries and petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Earlier missile attacks had already damaged Qatar's Pearl gas-to-liquids plant.
Trump, in a social media post, said he had no knowledge of the South Pars strike and that Qatar had played no part in it, while suggesting Israel would hold off on that field unless Iran struck Qatar again. Markets responded quickly, with crude futures climbing around five percent.
At sea, the picture is equally fraught. Maritime monitors have counted more than twenty incidents involving ships and offshore infrastructure since the fighting began, with no clear pattern of targeting particular owners. Traffic through Hormuz has fallen to a trickle. What remains unknown is whether Iran will carry out its named strikes and whether Trump's threat will be tested.
President Donald Trump has said the United States will destroy Iran's South Pars gas field if Tehran keeps attacking Qatar. His comments were published shortly before state-owned QatarEnergy reported "extensive damage" to LNG facilities at Ras Laffan from a fresh attack earlier today.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he had no knowledge of yesterday's attack on South Pars. He said Israel carried it out and that Qatar played no part in it. Iranian missiles later struck Qatar in what appeared to be retaliation.
Trump said Israel will not hit South Pars again unless Iran attacks Qatar. If Qatar's LNG facilities are struck again, he said, the US will act with or without Israel's consent and will "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field" with a force Iran has never seen.
Soon after, QatarEnergy said Ras Laffan had been attacked early on 19 March. Missiles hit several LNG facilities, causing sizeable fires and extensive further damage. The company gave no more details. Ras Laffan had also been hit by missiles on 18 March, and QatarEnergy said today that this earlier attack caused extensive damage to the Pearl gas-to-liquids facility.
The attacks follow an Iranian announcement on 18 March. Iran said it would retaliate for what it called US and Israeli strikes on its gas treatment facilities. It named five sites as "direct and legitimate targets" to be hit "in the coming hours": the 400,000 b/d Samref refinery at Yanbu and the Sadara petrochemical complex at Jubail, both in Saudi Arabia; Qatar Chemical in Doha; the 305,000 b/d Ras Laffan refinery north of Doha; and the Al-Hosn sour gas field in Abu Dhabi.
Markets reacted. Crude futures rose about 5pc today as attacks on energy infrastructure continued. The front-month May Brent contract on Ice gained 5.1pc to a high of $112.86/bl, and April WTI on Nymex rose 3.8pc to $110.02/bl.
At sea, UK Maritime Trade Operations reported another vessel attack, 11 nautical miles (20km) off Khawr Fakkan in the UAE. An unknown projectile struck a ship at 23:01 GMT on 18 March and started a fire on board. The vessel's identity is unclear. UKMTO put observed traffic through the strait of Hormuz at about 4/d.
Since hostilities began on 28 February, UKMTO has counted more than 20 incidents involving commercial vessels and offshore infrastructure across the Mideast Gulf, the strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. It said the incidents involve many vessel types and flag states, with no consistent link to Western ownership. That, it said, suggests a campaign of broad maritime disruption rather than selective targeting of ships.
What to watch now is whether Iran carries out the strikes it named on Saudi, Qatari and Emirati sites, and whether Trump's conditional threat against South Pars is put to the test.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
If Qatar's LNG facilities are attacked again, the US will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field, with or without Israel's consent.— Donald Trump, US president, on social media
The strike pattern reflects a campaign aimed at broad maritime disruption rather than selective vessel targeting.— UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei Argus Media ↗
War & Conflict