Trump threatens to hit Iran's largest gas field as prices soar

TEHRAN

Qatar reported "extensive" damage on March 19 to the site of the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility following Iranian strikes, sparking fears for global energy supplies and fresh threats from U.S. President Donald Trump against Iran.

Tehran carried out attacks on Qatar's huge Ras Laffan LNG facility in retaliation for an Israeli strike on March 18 on Iran's South Pars gas field, part of the world's largest natural gas reservoir.

Oil prices soared five percent and European gas jumped by 35 percent on March 19 on fresh concerns about the impact on energy supplies of the nearly three-week-old Middle East war.

With energy prices increasing and stocks sinking, as benchmark Brent soared to its highest in more than a week to more than $115 a barrel.

Brent futures were up $6.08, or 5.7 percent, at $113.46 a barrel by 08:14 GMT, after climbing almost $8 to the highest since March 9 to a session high of $115.10.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to stop attacks on Qatar, threatening to "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field.”

In a post on social media, he said Washington "knew nothing" about the Israeli attack on South Pars, saying it had "violently lashed out" in "anger.”

He said that "no more attacks will be made by Israel" on South Pars unless Iran continues to attack Qatar, in which case the United States "will massively blow up the entirety" of the gas field.

Qatar is one of the world's top liquefied natural gas producers, alongside the United States, Australia and Russia, and its Ras Laffan facility is the world's largest LNG hub.

It has been repeatedly targeted by Iran since the war began, and state-run QatarEnergy said on March 19 that two waves of Iranian strikes had caused "sizeable fires and extensive further damage" to several LNG facilities.

Gulf nations had strongly criticized the attack on Iran's South Pars gas field, which supplies around 70 percent of the country's domestic natural gas.

It is also part of the South Pars/North Dome megafield, the largest known gas reserve in the world that is shared with Qatar.

Qatar called the attack "dangerous and irresponsible,” while the United Arab Emirates offered a rare rebuke, calling it a "dangerous escalation.”

"Targeting energy infrastructure poses a direct threat to global energy security," the UAE foreign ministry said.

After Iran's attack on its Ras Laffan hub, Qatar ordered Iran's military and security attaches along with their staff to leave the country.

Elsewhere, Kuwait reported drone attacks on two oil refineries, while Saudi Arabia said it reserved the "right to take military actions" after intercepting drones targeting energy infrastructure in the east.