19 Mar As Reported Energy Price, news updates and commentary 19/03/26: OPEC $135.06/bbl
(Oilandgaspress) Oil prices rose above $110 (£82.78) a barrel after Iranian media reported an airstrike hitting a facility on the world’s largest natural gas field. Iran’s oil ministry said a fire at the petrochemical complex was under control, according to Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s military warned it would take “decisive action” in response to the strike on its energy infrastructure.
“As previously warned, if the fuel, energy, gas, and economic infrastructures of our country are attacked by the American-Zionist enemy, in addition to a powerful counterattack against the enemy, we will severely strike the origin of that aggression as well,” the military said in a statement published by Tasnim.
“We consider targeting the fuel, energy, and gas infrastructures of the countries of origin legitimate and will retaliate strongly at the earliest opportunity.”
European gas prices jumped by over 30 per cent Donald Trump said he ‘knew nothing’ of the attack but threatened to blow up the whole facility with ‘an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before’ if Iran continues to attack Qatar in retaliation.
‘I do not want to authorise this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran,’ he said in a post on Truth Social, adding he ‘will not hesitate’ to strike back.
Brent-WTI pushing toward an 11-year high as Middle East supply disruptions drove a deepening split between global and U.S. crude markets.
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) Oilprice | USD/bbl | $98.50 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $114.80 | Up |
| Bonny Light 18/03/26 CBN | USD/bbl | $111.48 | Up |
| Dubai | USD/bbl | $136.42 | Up |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.20 | Up |
| Murban | USD/bbl | $128.80 | Up |
| OPEC basket 18/03/26 OPEC | USD/bbl | $135.06 | Up |
| At press time (noon)March 19, 2026 |
QatarEnergy said on Wednesday that Iranian missile attacks on Ras Laffan, the site of the country’s core LNG processing operations, caused “extensive damage”, while the UAE shut gas facilities after intercepting missiles early on Thursday. “We are currently assessing any potential impact on any asset operated or utilised by Shell in Ras Laffan Industrial City and will provide further information in due course,” a Shell spokesperson said. .Related News
Iran has unleashed fresh attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours’ energy infrastructure this morning following an Israeli strike on Tehran’s biggest natural gas field. Kuwait said a drone attack on its Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery, one of the largest in the Middle East, had sparked a fire. The Kuwait Petroleum Company later confirmed its Mina Abdullah Refinery in the south of the country was also hit.. Related News
The global economy is edging towards a fragile moment as the Iran war pushes oil prices higher and unsettles confidence across markets. What started as a geopolitical shock is now seeping into everyday life, and economists say the real damage may still lie ahead.
Rising oil prices are expected to slow US economic growth while driving up inflation, putting policymakers in a difficult spot, the Financial Times noted. Energy costs tend to move quickly through the system, lifting transport and production expenses across a wide range of industries. Related News
The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion funding request to Congress for the war in Iran, according to a new report.
Pentagon officials are seeking a more than $200 billion bump in defense spending to keep up with its military campaign against Iran, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing a senior Trump administration official. Related News
Iran is asking Russia to share intelligence on U.S. military assets in the Middle East, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe confirmed during a congressional hearing on March 18.
Ratcliffe’s comments follow multiple reports that Moscow has provided Tehran with information on the locations of U.S. military facilities, including ships and aircraft in the Middle East, amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Russia has denied the allegations.. Related News
Cuba is set to receive its first energy shipments in months as vessels carrying Russian oil and gas are expected to arrive at its port early next week, the Financial Times (FT) reported on March 18. According to FT, citing maritime intelligence reports, the shipment, which are set to be delivered by the Hong Kong-flagged vessel Sea Horse, are expected to deliver 27,000 tonnes of Russian fuel in direct defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s energy embargo on island nation. Related News
Plastic Energy and TotalEnergies announce the start-up of their joint advanced plastics recycling plant, TotalEnergies Plastic Energy Advanced Recycling (TEPEAR), at TotalEnergies’ zero-crude Grandpuits complex outside Paris. The facility, which has an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tonnes, uses Plastic Energy’s patented advanced recycling technology to convert hard-to-recycle plastics into circular feedstock for the production of new plastics.
Following the successful production of the first batch of TACOIL™ earlier this year, the plant is now operational and producing circular feedstock from end-of-life plastics.
Plastic Energy’s proprietary TAC™ technology converts hard-to-recycle plastic waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill or incineration into TACOIL™, a circular alternative to traditional fossil-based feedstocks.
The recycled oil is processed at TotalEnergies’ petrochemical sites and enables the production of plastics suitable for demanding applications such as food-contact packaging, medical-grade materials and other high-quality products. This integration demonstrates how advanced recycling technologies can be deployed at industrial scale within existing petrochemical value chains. Related News
The Board of Directors of TotalEnergies SE met on March 18, 2026 under the chairmanship of Mr. Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. It has decided to convene the Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting of the Corporation on Friday, May 29, 2026. The Notice of Meeting will be published soon in France’s BALO (Bulletin des Annonces Légales et Obligatoires) and will be available on the Company’s website. The Board of Directors also approved the documents that will be submitted to shareholders at the Annual Meeting, including the Management Report. The directorships of Ms. Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, Ms. Anelise Lara and Mr. Dierk Paskert expire at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 29, 2026.
On the proposal of the Governance and Ethics Committee, the Board of Directors decided to submit to the Shareholders’ Meeting the renewal for a period of three years of the directorships of Ms. Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, Ms. Anelise Lara and Mr. Dierk Paskert. Related News
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) has recognized 23 initiatives that achieved outstanding results by conferring the President’s Award, including exemplary cases demonstrating the implementation of its new management policy, Innovative Total Optimization (ITO).
MHI Group announced its new management policy, ITO, effective May 2025. ITO constitutes a management methodology designed to maximize the potential inherent within the Group and achieve sustainable growth by pursuing group-wide optimization and scope expansion. By implementing ITO, the Group aims to create a virtuous cycle of transformation toward a high-profit structure and the reallocation of resources toward growth investments.
This year’s President’s Award recognized outstanding achievements across all areas of the Group, including exemplary initiatives stemming from putting ITO into practice, developing and implementing products and services contributing to solving social issues, and initiatives related to enhancing productivity and innovating business processes. Related News
Equinor has made an oil discovery that will be tied into the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. The discovery was made in the “Polynya Tubåen” prospect (7220/7-5). The well was drilled by the COSL Prospector rig. The preliminary volume estimate is between 14 and 24 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents.
– With Johan Castberg, we opened a new oil province in the Barents Sea one year ago. It is encouraging that we are now making new discoveries in the area. We plan to drill one to two exploration wells annually in this region going forward to increase the resource base and maintain plateau production for a longer period, says Grete Birgitte Haaland, area director for Exploration and Production North at Equinor.
The volume basis in Johan Castberg was originally estimated at 500–700 million barrels, and Equinor has an ambition to increase this by an additional 200–500 million barrels.
In June 2025, an oil discovery called “Drivis Tubåen” was made in the Castberg area, estimated at 13–20 million barrels in the Drivis structure.
Last week marked the start of construction for the development of Isflak, the first discovery to be tied into Johan Castberg. Aker Solutions in Sandnessjøen is building a well frame for two new wells that will be connected to existing subsea facilities. Related News
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