The United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on Saturday. The attack could disrupt oil and gas output and cause damage to energy infrastructure in the Middle East.

The following are facts on Iran’s energy industry, exports, and the impact of Western sanctions:

Oil production and infrastructure

Iran, the third largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumps about 4.5% of global oil supplies.

Iran’s output is about 3.3 million barrels per day of crude, plus 1.3 million bpd of condensate and other liquids.

Iran’s domestic refineries have a capacity of 2.6 million bpd, according to the consultancy FGE.

In 2025, it exported nearly 820,000 bpd of fuel, including LPG, according to Kpler, slightly below 2024 levels.

Iran’s oil and gas production facilities are concentrated in southwestern provinces: Khuzestan for oil and Bushehr for gas and condensate from South Pars.

It exports 90% of its crude via Kharg Island, for shipping through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts say Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members could compensate for a drop in Iranian supply by using spare capacity to pump more, even though this spare capacity has been shrinking due to output increases the producer group has undertaken over the past year.

Who buys Iran’s oil?

Chinese private refiners are the main buyers.

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on some Chinese refiners for purchases of Iranian oil.

China says it does not recognise unilateral sanctions against its trade partners, but its purchases of Iranian crude have declined.

As Iran also seeks to protect its stocks from potential US strikes, it has built p a record amount of oil on the water of about 200 million barrels, equivalent to about two days of global consumption, data from Kpler published on February 27 showed.

Iran has skirted sanctions for years by taking measures such as transferring oil from one ship to another at sea and changing the origin of the oil, to hiding tanker locations from satellites.

World’s largest gas reserve

Iran produces natural gas from the offshore South Pars gas field, which makes up around a third of the world’s largest reservoir of natural gas.

Iran shares the reservoir with major exporter Qatar, which calls its field the North Dome.

Sanctions and technical constraints have meant that most gas Tehran produces from South Pars is for domestic use.

Iran’s gas production totalled 276 billion cubic meters in 2024, with 94% consumed in Iran, according to data by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

Israeli attacks in June last year struck four units of Phase 14 of South Pars, around 200 kmfrom Qatar’s gas installations, many of which are joint ventures with energy giants ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips of the US.

Qatar has made hundreds of billions of dollars exporting liquefied natural gas for nearly three decades.

The entire reservoir contains an estimated 1,800 trillion cubic feet of usable gas — enough to supply the entire world’s needs for 13 years.