Iran’s precision strikes picked apart Gulf infrastructure, blunting US war plans
USO•Iran and its proxies carried out at least 135 drone and missile strikes on 84 Gulf infrastructure sites since the war began on February 28, damaging energy, transport and other facilities. The strikes disrupted oil and gas operations and contributed to oil prices rising above $100 a barrel.
1. Damage across the Gulf
A visual investigation found that Iran and its proxies targeted infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Strikes hit oil-routing systems at Fujairah, Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility, airports, refineries, power and desalination plants, and other sites; experts said the damage included equipment critical to operations.
2. Oil and gas disruption
Fujairah port was struck at least 19 times, and refined petroleum exports stopped for about a month after a May 4 attack. Strikes on Saudi facilities and pumping stations also disrupted crude flows, while damage at Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG plant threatened nearly 20% of global liquefied natural gas flows; QatarEnergy’s chief estimated repairs to destroyed cold boxes would take three to five years.
3. Longer-term effects
The Emirates Global Aluminium Al Taweelah smelter halted operations across all 1,262 smelting cells, and production is not expected to return to normal until 2027. Saudi daily oil production fell below 7 million barrels for most of the first six months of the war, down from more than 10 million before it; the article estimates that represents a loss of more than $50 billion at current prices.
