Iran’s Energy Infrastructure Is More Open To Attacks In The Future

Two days ago, benchmark crude oil futures fell by their largest one-day margin in more than two years after Israel launched limited retaliatory attacks on Iran but largely avoided energy facilities, thus easing fears of disruptions to global supplies. Israel mainly bombed air defense systems and missile production sites in three Iranian provinces, with analysts saying the lack of strikes on oil infrastructure or nuclear facilities leaves the door open for both sides to de-escalate the conflict.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei toned down the war rhetoric by refraining from talks about immediate retaliation.
However, commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have taken a more nuanced view of the situation.
Whereas energy infrastructure was not a direct target in the latest tranche of Israeli missile strikes on Iran, the country’s oil and gas facilities did not emerge from the attacks entirely unscathed.
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Three days ago, the Guardian reported that Israel used precision air and drone strikes to principally target air defense systems protecting crucial oil and gas facilities, as well as military sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production.
Some of the targeted air defense systems include the Abadan oil refinery, the Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex, the gasfield Tange Bijar, and the Bandar port in the south of the country. Overall, Israeli media reported about 20 hits. StanChart notes that damage to air defenses on Iran’s energy infrastructure has increased their vulnerability to future attack, a development that the market appears to be overlooking, or at least underappreciating.

Source: oilprice.com

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