By George Glover and Adam Clark
Oil prices were jumping Thursday after a drone hit a Saudi Arabian refinery and President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. would strike Iran's South Pars gas field if Iran attacks Qatar.
Brent international crude futures jumped 6.6% to $114.46 a barrel, having briefly touched $115 previously. West Texas Intermediate U.S. futures climbed 1.6% to $97.01 a barrel.
The spread between U.S. and international prices hit $19.66 at one point in early trading. Aside from in April 2020 when WTI closed in negative territory, that's the biggest spread between the benchmarks since March 2013. Traders are pricing in higher disruption risk for Brent, the international standard, while WTI's gains are mitigated by American domestic inventories and the possibility of restrictions on U.S. crude exports.
Oil rallied on Wednesday after Israeli strikes hit gas-processing and petrochemical facilities tied to the South Pars field, the world's largest gas reservoir. That marked an escalation of the war, given it was the first time Iran's energy facilities have been hit.
Iran retaliated by targeting key infrastructure across the Middle East. State-owned QatarEnergy said overnight that several of its liquefied natural gas $(LNG)$ facilities were the subject of missile attacks, causing sizable fires. QatarEnergy reported on Wednesday that missile strikes had caused extensive damage at the Ras Laffan Industrial City -- home to a major LNG hub.
Dutch TTF natural gas futures jumped 17% to EUR63.89 per megawatt on Thursday following the strikes.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Wednesday that the U.S. "knew nothing about this particular attack," referring to the strikes on South Pars gas field.
However, he also said the U.S. would target the site if Iran strikes Qatar.
"NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar," the president added. "In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before."
Meanwhile, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a post on X on Thursday that a drone had crashed into the Samref refinery and that the damage was being assessed.
The Iran war is a major worry for investors, given it has triggered a jump in oil prices that could drive up inflation and make it much tougher for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear on Wednesday that the central bank isn't prepared to look past the surge in crude, breaking with the standard playbook for energy shocks. Stocks plummeted following his comments, and futures were sliding again in Thursday's premarket.
"It would be even more jarring for stocks and the economy if these oil price levels persisted for even a few weeks or even a few months," said Montis Financial CIO Dennis Follmer. "The duration of this oil price spike is exactly what the market is trying to figure out, and that's why there is volatility."
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2026 08:13 ET (12:13 GMT)
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