Qatar has halted its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with QatarEnergy is set to declare force majeure on shipments of LNG, a source with knowledge told Reuters.
The development followed the suspension of most oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan and several major Israeli gas fields, throttling exports to Egypt.
Saudi authorities reported they intercepted Iranian drones that attacked the Ras Tanura oil refinery near Dammam and the refinery was shut down as a precaution, Saudi state television reported.
Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices soared by almost 50 per cent but the European Commission does not expect the widening conflict in the Middle East to have any immediate impact on the European Union's security of oil and gas supplies, a spokesperson said.
"We're not taking any emergency measures or anything like this. There is no shortage, there is no emergency for gas. Gas imports are well diversified," the spokesperson said when asked about gas supplies.
The EU's oil coordination group will meet within 48 hours to assess the situation.
Earlier on Monday, Qatar's government said an energy facility belonging to QatarEnergy was attacked by two Iranian drones, with authorities assessing the damage.
Qatari LNG production is equivalent to about 20 per cent of global supply. The Gulf country is the world's second largest LNG exporter after the US.and plays a major role in balancing Asian and European LNG market needs.
Oil prices surged as much as 13 per day intraday to above $82 ($A116) a barrel, the highest since January 2025, as the conflict ground shipping to a near halt in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil supply flows.
Insurance companies are cancelling war risk coverage for vessels in the Gulf with at least four tankers damaged, two seafarers killed and 150 ships stranded around the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, has ground to a near halt after vessels in the area were hit as Iran retaliated to US and Israeli strikes.
A bomb-carrying drone boat struck a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, killing one mariner, Oman said.
Iran has been threatening vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz and is believed to have launched multiple attacks.
State oil giant Saudi Aramco's 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) Ras Tanura refinery, which was shut as a precautionary measure, is part of an energy complex on the kingdom's Gulf coast which also serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude oil.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, which exported 200,000 bpd via pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan port in February, companies including DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum , Dana Gas and HKN Energy have stopped output at their fields as a precaution, with no damage reported.
Iran, the third largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumps about 4.5 per cent of global oil supplies. Iran's output is about 3.3 million bpd of crude, plus 1.3 million bpd of condensate and other liquids.
with agencies
