Shell reports damage to Pearl GTL plant after Iran attack on Qatar LNG hub

(Bloomberg) – Shell Plc’s Pearl gas-to-liquids plant sustained damage in Iran’s attack on the Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar on Wednesday, the oil major said.

A fire at the site has been extinguished and the facility is in a “safe state,” Shell said. All essential staff are safe and accounted for and the extent of the damage is being assessed.

Attacks on energy infrastructure have escalated over the past two days, as Iran has targeted some of the Middle East’s most important energy facilities in retaliation for Israel’s strike on its South Pars gas field.

Ras Laffan was one of several locations that Iran said it targeted Wednesday after its South Pars gas field and related assets were attacked.

Shell’s Pearl GTL plant refines as much as 1.6 billion cubic feet of wellhead gas from offshore wells into as much as 140,000 barrels a day of fuel, including gasoil, kerosene and base oil, along with petrochemical feedstock.

The attacks on Pearl GTL caused “extensive damage,” QatarEnergy said in a separate statement. There were also missile attacks on several of the company’s liquefied natural gas facilities that caused “sizable fires and extensive further damage.” 

Separately, Saudi Arabia said it was assessing damage at its Samref refinery.