Oil prices leapt to nearly $110 a barrel after Iranian media reported an airstrike hitting a facility on the world's largest natural gas field.
The Brent crude oil benchmark hit $109.91 a barrel just after 14:30 GMT, more than 5% higher than Tuesday's prices. It remains above $108.
The surge followed a report from Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that Iran's petrochemical complex on the South Pars gas field had been hit.
The benchmark UK gas price also jumped by 6% to 143.53p a therm before falling back below the 140p mark.
While the price of both oil and gas spiked, they remained below highs seen earlier in the conflict. Oil reached $116.78 a barrel on 9 March, while UK gas reached 162.55p a therm on 3 March.
Iran's oil ministry reported that a fire at the petrochemical complex was under control on Wednesday afternoon, but the extent of the damage remains unclear.
Iran's military has warned of "decisive action" in response to the strike on its energy infrastructure. They stated, if the fuel, energy, gas, and economic infrastructures of our country are attacked... we will retaliate strongly at the earliest opportunity.
Additionally, Iran has suspended the flow of gas to Iraq to bolster domestic supplies. The vast majority of Iran's gas supply (94%) is used domestically.
Qatar also operates facilities on the gas field and had halted production earlier in March due to the conflict. The spokesman for Qatar's foreign ministry expressed that strikes against energy infrastructure threaten global energy security.
