Iranian missile attacks have eliminated 17% of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, according to QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy company. The damage to Qatar’s production facilities will take up to five years to repair, potentially disrupting supplies to European and Asian markets, the company stated Thursday.
The attacks targeted QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan LNG facility, the world’s largest, in retaliation for a prior Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field, according to reports. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President & CEO of QatarEnergy, described the attacks as “unjustified and senseless… against global energy security and stability” in a post on X, adding that no injuries occurred.
Al-Kaabi indicated that exports to China, South Korea, Italy, and Belgium would be affected. “We will be compelled to declare force majeure for a period of up to five years on some of our long-term LNG contracts,” he stated. Force majeure is a legal term referring to unforeseen circumstances that prevent a company from fulfilling a contract.
QatarEnergy’s exports account for nearly one-fifth of global LNG supply, and were already constrained by a near-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with all production halted on March 2nd following a previous attack. The disruption comes as Asian and European countries, reliant on natural gas imports, have already been responding to sharply higher LNG prices this month, increasing costs for power generation, home heating, and fertilizer production.
The attacks on Ras Laffan represent a significant blow to Qatar’s energy infrastructure and its ability to meet growing global demand for LNG. QatarEnergy has not yet detailed the specific nature of the damage or outlined a comprehensive repair plan, but the five-year timeframe suggests substantial structural damage to critical components of the facility.
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