Iranian strikes hit Israel's Haifa oil refineries on Thursday. The attack was carried out as retaliation for Israel targeting the country's South Pars gas field, as per media reports.
Operated by the Bazan group Haifa Bay, the refineries act as Israel's largest oil processing facility, processing close to 9.8 million tons of crude annually. It is a major source of country's domestic diesel and gasoline supply (approximately 50-60%).
The Israeli defense forces had struck Iran's South Pars gas field on Wednesday. The unit is the world's largest gas field and its significance for Iran's domestic energy needs is at par with the Haifa refineries' importance to Israel.
ALSO READ | Global Oil Supply To Plunge By 8 Million BPD In March; Iran War Causing Biggest-Ever Market Disruption: IEA
The war which entered its 20th day on Thursday seems to be getting more intense with both Israel and Iran targeting key energy levers like gas fields, oil refineries and manufacturing units all across the middle east.
Earlier in the day, Iran had also struck two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities wiping out 7% of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity and causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue, as per a Reuters report.
The attack also threatened supplies to Europe and Asia, Reuters cited QatarEnergy's CEO Saad al-Kaabi as saying.
An Overview Of The War
The Middle East has been on the boil ever since US and Israel launched joint air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, escalating conflict in the regions.
Gulf Countries such as UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, have found themselves in the thick of the cross fire. The war has resulted in loss of civilian lives in most of these countries.
Its Oily & Bloody Repercussions
The war has resulted in one of the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, with countries across are facing LPG, and PNG crunch. The oil global oil supply is likely to remain disrupted until the Strait of Hormuz is released of its chokehold.
Multiple requests by US President Donald Trump to allies like the NATO countries have not bore any fruit for the assistance in securing the Strait.
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