Qatar’s state energy company says it stopped production of liquefied natural gas after the Iranian attacks, sending gas prices soaring in Europe, while Saudi Arabia announced it would temporarily shut down some units at the Ras Tanura oil refinery located near the country’s eastern region after a fire broke out following a drone attack.
“Due to military attacks on QatarEnergy’s operational facilities in the industrial city of Ras Laffan and the industrial city of Mesaieed in the state of Qatar, QatarEnergy has ceased production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products,” the world’s largest LNG producer said in a statement on Monday.
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Shortly after the announcement, gas prices in Europe soared by almost 50 percent.
Earlier, Qatar’s Defense Ministry said the country was attacked by two drones launched from Iran. “One drone targeted a water tank belonging to a power plant in Mesaieed, and the other targeted a power facility in the industrial city of Ras Laffan, belonging to QatarEnergy, with no human casualties reported,” it said in a statement.
“All damage and losses resulting from the attack will be assessed by the relevant authorities and an official statement will be issued later,” he added.
The Saudi Defense Ministry, in reports published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), said that two drones had “attempted to attack” the Ras Tanura refinery on Monday morning, and that a “small” fire had broken out after they were intercepted.
Images verified by Al Jazeera showed plumes of smoke rising from the oil facility, located on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast. The ministry said the refinery “suffered limited damage” but there were no casualties.
The Ras Tanura oil refinery, one of the world’s largest oil processing facilities located near the eastern city of Dammam, has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. The facility is home to one of the largest refineries in the Middle East and is considered a cornerstone of the kingdom’s energy sector.
The attacks come as oil tankers have been piling up on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and most of Qatar’s gas flows.
Maritime disturbances and fears of a prolonged conflict have caused global oil prices to rise sharply, which will have a significant impact on the global economy.
Iran has been launching retaliatory attacks, primarily against Israel and US military facilities across the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched massive airstrikes against the country.
In a statement published by SPA, the Saudi Ministry of Energy stated that some operations had been paralyzed as a “precautionary measure” and that it did not foresee “any impact on the supply of petroleum products to local markets.”
Saudi Arabia had previously said it would “take all necessary measures to defend its security and protect its territory, its citizens and its residents, including the option of responding to aggression” after Iran attacked the capital, Riyadh, and the country’s eastern region over the weekend.
The United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning Iranian attacks across the region and affirming their right to self-defense.
Rob Geist Pinfold, professor of defense studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that Iran “knows exactly what it is doing” by attacking Gulf countries.
“These countries are less eager to fight because, at the end of the day, this is not their war. So Iran is confident that they will want a ceasefire as soon as possible, that they will put pressure on the Trump administration. But so far we have no signs of that at all,” he said.
Pinfold added that there appears to be a “show of strength” and “unity” coming from the Gulf States, at least rhetorically.
“They’re trying to convey the message that they are one, that they are united and that they are resilient,” Pinfold said. “But beneath the surface, there are deep disagreements here about how to engage with Iran and whether or not it is possible to do so.”
