European gas prices up 30 per cent after attacks on Middle East infrastructure
European gas prices soared on Thursday morning, following attacks on major gas infrastructure in Qatar and Iran.
Shortly after 8:00, the price of the Dutch TTF, the benchmark for the European market, jumped by around 30 per cent to 72.45 euros per megawatt hour.
Ras Laffan, Qatar’s main gas facility, was targeted on Wednesday by Iranian strikes that caused “considerable damage”, according to Qatar’s state-owned energy company.
Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) behind the US, and Ras Laffan is its main LNG production site. Europe has been particularly reliant on LNG imports since it turned away from Russian natural gas following the invasion of Ukraine.
"It was already before the war in the Middle East the absolute top priority of my agenda and I think the European agenda"
On Wednesday evening, Iran threatened to step up its strikes on energy infrastructure in the Gulf if its own energy sector were targeted again, following the attack on Iranian facilities at the South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar.
European leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss issues including energy and Ukraine. Ahead of the summit, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever told journalists that energy prices would be “a top priority”.
“It was already before the war in the Middle East the absolute top priority of my agenda and I think the European agenda,” he said, “and this has become all the more urgent after the events that we have been witnessing in the Middle East.”
QatarEnergy's operating facilities in Ras Laffan, 2 March 2026 © PHOTO AFP
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