Strike on Four South Pars Gas Refineries

On March 18, 2026, four large gas refineries in the Assaluyeh area were simultaneously targeted in a missile attack. According to a later account by the National Iranian Gas Company's gas-distribution coordination manager, 27 heavy missiles struck critical equipment and essential infrastructure at the four refineries within approximately three minutes.

The four facilities processed gas from the South Pars gas field, including sour gas from Phases 3, 4, 5 and 6. The onshore processing facilities are essential to converting raw gas from the offshore field into usable natural gas and other hydrocarbon products for Iran's energy system. An independent industry report by Argus similarly identified the four facilities as gas-treatment plants processing sour gas from South Pars Phases 3–6 and reported that they were taken offline to contain and prevent the spread of fire.

The strikes caused substantial damage to the processing infrastructure and resulted in the immediate loss of approximately 230 million cubic metres of gas-production capacity. The later assessment published by Entekhab, based on comments by the Secretary-General of the Federation of Iran's Oil Industry, characterized this as approximately one-third of the production capacity associated with the Iranian side of South Pars, with the loss attributable to damage to the processing facilities rather than to the offshore gas field itself.

The impact was therefore not limited to physical damage at the four facilities. Because the offshore gas-production platforms depend on these onshore plants to process the extracted gas, the loss of processing capacity also affected the ability to maintain production from the connected South Pars phases. Argus reported that the shutdown of the treatment plants would probably also reduce production from the linked offshore platforms, although the authorities had not disclosed the precise amount at the time.

The subsequent recovery assessments indicate that the damage was substantial and could not be fully repaired quickly. According to the National Iranian Gas Company's later assessment, approximately 100 million cubic metres of the lost capacity was considered recoverable in the shorter term. By August, 60–70 percent of that 100 million cubic metres had reportedly returned to production, with the full 100 million cubic metres expected to be restored by October 2026. The remaining approximately 130 million cubic metres was expected to remain unavailable for one to two years.

A separate assessment published by Entekhab was more conservative regarding full reconstruction, estimating that complete repair and reconstruction of the four damaged refineries could require at least 1.5 to 2 years, partly because some of the required large and long-lead equipment was not readily available domestically. The same assessment said that smaller rapidly deployable processing units could recover 20–25 percent of the lost capacity by the end of the year, while warning of the possibility of gas shortages during the cold season.

The strategic significance of the facilities is amplified by the importance of South Pars to Iran's energy system. Argus reports that South Pars accounts for approximately 70–75 percent of Iran's gas production and supplies significant feedstock to the country's petrochemical and gasoline industries.