Iran escalates attacks on Gulf states, targeting key oil and gas facilities

Iranian aerial attacks since Wednesday have caused extensive damage to the world's largest gas plant in Qatar, targeted a refinery in Saudi Arabia, forced the UAE to shut gas facilities and set off fires at two Kuwaiti refineries.

Tehran's retaliation against Israeli attacks on its own gas facilities marks a further escalation of the nearly three-week war.

On Thursday, a drone fell on the Aramco-Exxon refinery, SAMREF, the Saudi defense ministry said, adding damage was being assessed. It also intercepted a ballistic missile launched towards Yanbu, the port city that is currently Saudi Arabia's only outlet for crude exports and where the refinery is located.

Also on Thursday, one of the operational units at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries was targeted by drones, resulting in fires at both sites, Kuwait's state news agency said.

Qatar's state oil giant QatarEnergy said on Wednesday that Iranian missile attacks on Ras Laffan, the site of the country's core LNG processing operations, caused "extensive damage," while the UAE shut gas facilities after intercepting missiles early on Thursday.

The Iranian attacks, which drew a furious response from US President Donald Trump, came hours after Tehran issued evacuation warnings for several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, following strikes on its own energy infrastructure in South Pars and Asaluyeh.

QatarEnergy, the world's second-largest LNG exporter, said in a statement that its emergency response team was deployed immediately to contain fires caused by the attack. By early Thursday, all fires at Ras Laffan had been brought under control, with no injuries reported, Qatar's interior ministry said.

Ras Laffan, located 80 km (50 miles) north of Doha, is an energy-industry hub and hosts several international companies including Shell the world's biggest LNG trader.

"We are currently assessing any potential impact on any asset operated or utilized by Shell in Ras Laffan Industrial City and will provide further information in due course," a Shell spokesperson said.

The energy major has a 30% stake in a 7.8 million-metric-tons-a-year LNG facility and investments in yet-to-produce LNG plants at Ras Laffan. It also fully owns the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in the hub, with capacity to process up to 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of wellhead gas.

QatarEnergy said the Pearl gas-to-liquids facility had suffered extensive damage. Several LNG facilities were hit by missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday, causing "sizeable fires" and further damage, it said.

Shell later said the Pearl GTL facility had sustained damage, saying a fire was quickly put out and it was now in a safe state and that damage was being assessed in close coordination with authorities and QatarEnergy.

In the UAE, authorities said they were responding to incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and at the Bab oil field caused by falling debris from intercepted missiles.

The gas facilities were shut down and no injuries were reported, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.

The Habshan complex, operated by Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC, is one of the world's largest gas processing facilities, comprising five plants with a total capacity of 6.1 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd), according to ADNOC.

Additionally, oil giant Saudi Aramco's SAMREF refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu was targeted in an aerial attack on Thursday, an industry source said, adding there was minimal impact, after other attacks on energy facilities in Qatar and the UAE in response to US-Israeli attacks on Iranian energy installations.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had issued an evacuation warning to several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, including SAMREF, which is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil.

The warning followed a strike on Iran's South Pars gas field, a major escalation in the war with the United States and Israel.

Yanbu has been one of two major export outlets for any crude oil out of Gulf Arab countries since Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz after the war erupted late last month. The Strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, normally carries a fifth of the world's oil supply.

The other major export outlet is the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah, which has come under a series of attacks that have suspended operations there. It was not immediately clear whether loadings were operational on Thursday.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh, and the UAE halted operations at its Habshan gas facility after a drone interception.

Following these strikes, Gulf states have requested an urgent debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over Iran's strikes on civilians and energy infrastructure across the Middle East, documents show.

A diplomatic note sent by Gulf states, seen by Reuters, describes the ballistic missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as a "situation of serious concern for international peace and security," with severe human rights implications.

The expanding US-Israeli war on Iran, which has entered its third week, sparked large-scale Iranian retaliation in the form of drone and missile strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries.

Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy facilities across the region has spiked energy prices and fueled fears of a rise in inflation globally.

The "unprovoked attacks" on Gulf countries - despite their assurances to Tehran that their territories won't host anti-Iran launches - demand immediate attention, the diplomatic note said.

The draft resolution proposed by the Gulf states strongly condemns and calls for Iran to immediately stop strikes on civilian infrastructure and commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and also seeks reparations for civilian, infrastructure and environmental damage.

The Council has received the request and is considering a date to hold the debate, stated a letter from its president, Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro.