Iran has halted part of its output at the giant South Pars gas field after an Israeli airstrike sparked a fire there Saturday, state-aligned Tasnim news agency said, marking the first reported hit on Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure.
The blaze erupted in one of four processing units at Phase 14 of the offshore field, located in southern Bushehr province. Iran’s Oil Ministry said firefighters quickly extinguished the flames but estimated the stoppage at roughly 12 million cubic meters of gas per day.
South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar (where it is known as North Field), supplies the majority of the country’s gas. Iran—ranked behind only the United States and Russia in annual output—pumps about 275 billion cubic meters a year, nearly all of it consumed domestically because sanctions bar exports.
The strike comes a day after Israel launched wide-ranging raids that Tehran says killed senior commanders and nuclear scientists. Friday’s attacks hit military and nuclear sites but spared energy targets, though oil prices still climbed 9 percent.
Qatar taps its side of the reservoir with help from energy majors such as Exxon Mobil and Shell, producing around 77 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually for Europe and Asia.
