A Vantor satellite image shows firefighting and damage assessment at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery after an early March 2026 fire. New drone and missile strikes have since struck energy facilities across the Gulf. Bahrain’s main refinery was hit again on Thursday; the Bahrain News Agency said missiles fired by Iran caused the damage.
Unlike recent regional flare-ups that largely spared energy networks, this round of attacks has hit fuel and gas facilities across multiple countries. In under a week, officials report strikes on refineries in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) export complex — the world’s largest — was also struck. Iranian forces have been blamed for many of the attacks, while Iran has accused Israel of striking a Saudi refinery.
Robin Mills, chief executive of Dubai-based Qamar Energy, says there is little precedent for such simultaneous, wide-area attacks on different kinds of energy installations.
Qatar supplies roughly one-fifth of global LNG. LNG is natural gas cooled to about −260°F so it can be shipped by sea for power generation, heating and petrochemical use. Following the strikes at Ras Laffan, state-owned QatarEnergy halted production and declared force majeure, citing unsafe conditions that prevent routing cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz. Kayrros chief analyst Antoine Halff says buyers in Asia and Europe are likely to miss Qatari cargoes for weeks or longer. Israel has also halted some offshore gas production amid the broader disruption.
Analysts warn the timing matters. The world currently has a crude oil surplus, but natural gas and LNG supplies are tighter as the Northern Hemisphere moves out of winter and European gas storage levels remain low. Gerry Kepes, president of Competitive Energy Strategies, says the shutdown of Gulf LNG could have a more pervasive negative impact than a stop in crude exports. Simon Flowers, chairman and chief analyst at Wood Mackenzie, cautioned that the effects on gas and LNG could rival the market shock that followed Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
European benchmark natural gas prices have climbed by more than 60% since the conflict began, with Asian prices up over 40%. Some producers outside the Middle East — notably in Australia and Malaysia — may redirect cargoes to fill gaps in Asia and Europe. The U.S., now the world’s largest LNG exporter, has new Gulf Coast facilities due to come online this year and next, but global spare LNG capacity is limited. Mills notes that plants typically run near full output and few countries hold excess export capacity.
Markets have reacted to the disruption. Shares of Australian LNG producers Woodside Energy Group and Santos rose roughly 9% and 10% respectively in the week after the conflict began. In the U.S., Cheniere and Venture Global shares gained about 8% and 27% over the same period.