* Oil, gas prices surge after attacks on Middle East

energy infrastructure

* Iranian missile attacks cause extensive damage to

Qatar's LNG facilities

* Trump warns of massive response if Iran attacks Qatari

LNG again

* Fires after drone attacks target Kuwait's Mina

al-Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah refineries

* Drone falls in Aramco-Exxon SAMREF refinery, missile

towards Yanbu intercepted

By Jaidaa Taha, Yousef Saba, Jana Choukeir and Yomna Ehab

March 19 (Reuters) - European gas prices surged 28% and

oil gained 6% on Thursday after Iran attacked energy

infrastructure in the Middle East in retaliation against Israeli

attacks on it gas facilities, marking the biggest escalation of

the nearly three-week war.

The Iranian aerial attacks caused extensive damage to the

world's largest gas plant in Qatar, targeted a refinery in Saudi

Arabia, forced the United Arab Emirates to shut gas facilities

and started fires at two Kuwaiti refineries.

The price of benchmark Brent crude rose to above $114 a

barrel on Thursday after earlier reaching $119, while gas prices

in Europe were double the level seen in late February before the

U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran.

Benchmark Dutch gas prices hit 74 euros ($84.97) per

megawatt hour, their highest level since January 2023.

"This latest escalation feels like a turning point for

markets because the conflict is no longer just about military

headlines or Strait of Hormuz closure," said Charu Chanana,

chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore.

"It is now hitting the plumbing of the global energy system.

What is unsettling markets now is the growing stagflation risk,"

she added.

EUROPEAN LEADERS SEEK QUICK FIXES

European leaders on Thursday will try to agree on quick fixes to

mitigate surging prices caused by the tit-for-tat attacks on key

facilities and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through

which some 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies

normally pass.

But some governments doubt that the EU - whose 27 member

states have vastly different energy mixes and national taxes on

energy - can realistically offset a price spike.

The attacks on South Pars in Iran and Qatar's Ras Laffan

plant represent a sharp escalation, not just in the conflict

itself but in its implications for energy markets, Rob McLeod,

head of energy price risk solutions at Hartree Partners, said in

a LinkedIn post.

Major infrastructure damage means facilities could take

months or years, not weeks, to restart, he said.

South Pars is the Iranian sector of the world's largest

natural gas deposit, which Iran shares with Qatar, a close U.S.

ally, across the Gulf. Qatar's foreign ministry rebuked Israel

for a "dangerous and irresponsible" attack on Iran's South Pars

facilities, and denounced Iran for what it called "a flagrant

breach" of international law, expelling two senior Iranian

diplomats.

On Thursday, a drone fell on the Aramco-Exxon refinery, SAMREF,

the Saudi Arabian Defence Ministry said, adding damage was being

assessed. It also intercepted a ballistic missile launched

towards Yanbu, the Red Sea port city that is currently Saudi

Arabia's only outlet for crude exports and where the refinery is

located.

Oil loadings were briefly halted at Yanbu, two sources told

Reuters on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, one of the operational units at Kuwait

Petroleum Corporation's Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah

refineries was targeted by drones, resulting in fires at both

sites, Kuwait's state news agency said.

'EXTENSIVE DAMAGE' SEEN AT RAS LAFFAN

Qatar's state oil company QatarEnergy, the world's

second-largest LNG exporter, said on Wednesday that Iranian

missile attacks on Ras Laffan, the site of its core LNG

processing operations, caused "extensive damage", while the UAE

shut gas facilities after intercepting missiles early on

Thursday.

QatarEnergy said in a statement that its emergency

response team was deployed immediately to contain fires caused

by the attack. By early Thursday, all fires at Ras Laffan had

been brought under control, with no injuries reported, Qatar's

Interior Ministry said.

Saul Kavonic, head of research at Australia's MST Marquee,

said attacks on Ras Laffan "could cause a lasting global gas

shortage, but this won't pressure the Trump administration

because the U.S. benefits economically from high global gas

prices".

Qatar produces 77 million metric tons of LNG annually, which is

used in power generation and industries. The Laffan refinery

primarily processes condensate into refined products including

aviation fuel.

Ras Laffan, located 80 km (50 miles) north of Doha, is an

energy-industry hub and hosts several international companies

including Shell, the world's biggest LNG trader.

Shell is currently assessing any potential impact, a

spokesperson said.

The Iranian attacks came hours after Tehran issued evacuation

warnings for several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE

and Qatar, following strikes on its own energy infrastructure in

South Pars and Asaluyeh.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier warned Iran in a

statement on social media not to retaliate by attacking Qatari

LNG facilities again and threatened to "massively blow up the

entirety of the South Pars Gas Field" if it did so. He said

Israel had attacked South Pars without informing Qatar or the

United States.

GAS FACILITIES SHUT DOWN IN UAE

In the UAE, authorities said they were responding to

incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and at the Bab oil field

caused by falling debris from intercepted missiles.

The gas facilities were shut down and no injuries were

reported, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.

The Habshan complex, operated by Abu Dhabi state oil giant

ADNOC, is one of the world's largest gas processing facilities,

comprising five plants with a total capacity of 6.1 billion

standard cubic feet per day, according to ADNOC.

($1 = 0.8709 euros)