The cost of Brent crude oil exceeded $111 per barrel. WTI is over $100
The cost of Brent exceeded $110 per barrel / Photo: Shutterstock.com/apiguide
Oil and gas prices rose sharply Wednesday night after Iran struck Qatar's largest LNG plant.
- Brent oil rose in price by almost 8% and reached $111.5 per barrel. U.S. oil WTI rose by more than 4% and exceeded $100 per barrel.
- Natural gas prices in Europe increased by more than 6% to almost 55 euros per megawatt hour.
The initial rise in energy prices on Wednesday, March 18, was caused by Iran's threats to attack the energy infrastructure of nearby countries, and then oil began to rise rapidly on news of an attack on a plant in Qatar, Bloomberg explains.
Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial complex, the world's largest LNG export center, suffered "significant damage," authorities said. The facility was earlier listed by Iran as a potential target in response to attacks on its oil and gas industry.
The current price rise reflects that the market is starting to lay down the risk of a slower recovery in production once the conflict is over, says Tom Marzek-Manser, director of European gas and LNG at Wood Mackenzie. "The likelihood of damage to production has now increased. Even after the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, normalization of flows could take significantly longer," he told Bloomberg.
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