New Delhi: Oil prices leapt to nearly $110 a barrel after Iranian media reported an airstrike hitting a facility on the world's largest natural gas field. The Brent crude oil benchmark hit $109.91 a barrel, more than 5 percent higher than Tuesday's prices. It remains above $108.
The surge followed a report from Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that Iran's petrochemical complex on the South Pars gas field had been hit.
The benchmark UK gas price also jumped by 6 percent to 143.53p a therm before falling back below the 140p mark.
While the price of both oil and gas spiked, they remained below highs seen earlier in the conflict. Oil reached $116.78 a barrel on 9 March, while UK gas reached 162.55p a therm on 3 March.
Iran's oil ministry said a fire at the petrochemical complex was under control, Tasnim reported, but the extent of the damage to the facility remained unclear. Iran's military warned it would take "decisive action" in response to the strike on its energy infrastructure.
"As previously warned, if the fuel, energy, gas, and economic infrastructures of our country are attacked by the American-Zionist enemy, in addition to a powerful counterattack against the enemy, we will severely strike the origin of that aggression as well," the military said in a statement published by Tasnim.
"We consider targeting the fuel, energy, and gas infrastructures of the countries of origin legitimate and will retaliate strongly at the earliest opportunity."
