(NEW YORK) — Iranian attacks on significant energy infrastructure and refineries in several Gulf countries pushed oil and gas prices higher in volatile trading on Thursday.
Brent crude oil prices, a benchmark for global trading, climbed by about 6%, hitting $116 per barrel for contracts to purchase oil in May.
The benchmark for European gas also surged by about 15% after Iran on Wednesday released retaliatory strikes targeting energy sites in several Gulf countries.
An Iranian drone struck a Saudi Aramco refinery in Yanbu, on the Red Sea, on Thursday, according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense, which said the extent of the damage was being assessed. That refinery is a joint venture between Aramco and the U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp.
Kuwait also on Thursday said its Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery, which is run by the state-owned National Petroleum Company, had been struck by a drone. There was a “limited” fire at the facility, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
Qatari authorities said on Wednesday that Iranian ballistic missile attacks caused fires and “extensive damage” at the Ras Laffan terminal, which carries about one-fifth of the global supply of liquid natural gas. Qatar Energy, which runs the terminal, has said on March 2 that it would bring liquefied natural gas production at Ras Laffan to a halt.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had issued warnings for several Gulf energy production sites, including the refinery in Yanbu, after Wednesday’s Israeli strikes on the South Pars Gas Field, the largest in Iran.
Those attacks added uncertainty to a market already on edge, as the overall conflict and the near-closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz by Iran has sent key energy prices higher.
The Dutch Title Transfer Facility, which is widely seen as the European benchmark for natural gas, saw forward-looking contracts for next month climb about 15% in midmorning trading on Thursday. Trading was volatile, and those contracts had registered intraday gains as high as about 30% in morning trading.
Since the conflict began on Feb. 28, with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Tehran, the TTF benchmark’s rate has about doubled. Intraday prices on Thursday hovered above about 60 euro per MWh, while those LNG contracts had traded below 30 euro per MWh between mid-November and mid-January.
Brent crude had been trading prior to the conflict near $70 a barrel. Prices has previously peaked at about $120 a barrel on March 9.
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