In striking South Pars, Israel hit the world’s largest gas field—an “energy lifeline” for Iran
The South Pars natural gas field—part of the world’s largest shared gas reservoir—has become a focal point in the Iran-Israel war after an Israeli attack on the Iranian side this week, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The field is described as an “energy lifeline” for Iran and as a key industrial and export resource for Qatar on the other side of the same underground formation.
AP reported that the attack prompted Iran to target energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries in response, including Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and a Kuwaiti oil refinery. The escalation, the story said, sent new shockwaves through the region and beyond as markets weighed the risk of further retaliation.
Hours after an earlier attack on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Israel would not attack South Pars again. Trump also warned that if Iran continued striking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the United States would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field, according to AP.
AP said the South Pars strike is different from attacks aimed at exports: the target is not framed as Iran’s overseas supply, but as its biggest domestic source of energy in a country that sometimes struggles to produce enough electricity. The report tied the field’s centrality to how Iran uses natural gas for power generation, heating, and household energy needs.
The AP report said the gas field sits under the Persian Gulf and is shared by Iran and Qatar, with the names South Pars and North Field reflecting the two sides. While the reservoir is the same underlying resource, the report described starkly different roles for each country: Qatar has developed the resource heavily for LNG export, while Iran relies on the gas primarily at home.
On the export side, AP said Qatar has invested “billions” in developing the field as a source of liquefied natural gas, exporting from Ras Laffan, where gas is chilled into a liquid and loaded on tankers bound for customers in Asia. AP reported that Qatar’s LNG business had made it the supplier of about a fifth of the world’s LNG before the war, and it said Ras Laffan was shut down March 2 after an Iranian attack and then hit again on Thursday.
AP reported that the shutdown and additional strike raised prices for natural gas in Asia and Europe, with Energy Intelligence describing Thursday’s strikes as part of “a dangerous escalation” and “a grim warning” for the LNG market. The report said the extent of damage at Ras Laffan was unclear, but the interruptions were enough to tighten supply expectations.
Iran’s use of the field looks different, AP said. With sanctions and lack of investment constraining development for export, AP reported that Iran feeds its gas into its own pipeline system and uses it domestically for cooking, heating, generating electricity, and as an industrial feedstock—while exporting relatively little compared with Qatar.
AP said Iran exports about 9 billion cubic meters, compared with Qatar’s more than 120 billion cubic meters, and that Iran’s export customers include Turkey and Armenia, both of which could access alternative supplies. The report also said Iran’s efforts to develop LNG export projects on its Persian Gulf coastline were blocked by sanctions that barred the import of needed technology and investment, and noted that one site at Asulayeh, near where attacks occurred, was reportedly near completion after starting construction almost 20 years ago.
The Associated Press report connected the South Pars attack to a broader energy shock for the global economy, describing it as part of a pattern that has included attacks on ships and key export facilities in Persian Gulf neighbors and has increased upward pressure on energy prices. It also reported that analysts viewed the South Pars strike and subsequent retaliation risk as a “serious escalation” based on the threat of further moves against Gulf energy infrastructure.