Iran strike cuts Qatar LNG export capacity by 17%, QatarEnergy says
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DOHA, March 20 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Iranian missile strikes have cut Qatar’s liquefied natural gas export capacity by 17%, state-owned QatarEnergy said on Thursday, warning that damage to its facilities would disrupt supplies to Europe and Asia and could take up to five years to repair.
The company said the latest attack hit its Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex, the world’s largest, after Iran launched strikes in Qatar in retaliation for an earlier Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs and president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said no injuries were reported in the attack. In a statement posted on X, he described the strike as an attack on global energy security and stability.
QatarEnergy said exports to China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium would be affected. Al-Kaabi said the company expected to declare force majeure on some long-term liquefied natural gas contracts for as long as five years, a move that would allow it to suspend contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.
The disruption deepens pressure on global gas markets already strained by shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz. QatarEnergy exports account for nearly one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas supply, and the company said output had already been halted on March 2 after an earlier attack.
The latest strike is likely to intensify concerns in Asia and Europe, where governments and buyers were already seeking alternatives as liquefied natural gas prices rose sharply this month, lifting costs for power generation, home heating and fertilizer production.
