Iran attacks cut 17% of Qatar LNG capacity; repairs may take up to five years: QatarEnergy CEO

Iranian attacks have knocked out 17% of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas export capacity, disrupting supplies to key markets in Europe and Asia, QatarEnergy’s CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters on Thursday.

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Saad al-Kaabi said two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids facilities were damaged in the strikes, sidelining 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG output for an estimated three to five years. The disruption could result in about $20 billion in lost annual revenue.

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“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be – Qatar and the region – in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way,” the CEO said.

The damage follows a series of Iranian strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure on Thursday. The strikes came after Israeli attacks on Iran’s own gas facilities. The escalation has widened risks to global energy supply chains already under strain.

Kaabi said QatarEnergy may have to declare force majeure on long-term LNG supply contracts for up to five years for shipments bound for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. “These are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it’s whatever the period is,” he said.

According to the report, US oil major ExxonMobil is a partner in ​the damaged LNG facilities. The US firm holds ⁠a 34% stake in LNG train S4 and a 30% stake in train S6, Kaabi said.

The impact extends beyond LNG exports. Qatar’s condensate shipments are expected to fall by around 24%, while liquefied petroleum gas output could decline 13%. Helium production may drop 14%, and both naphtha and sulphur output are projected to fall by 6%.

The damaged units, which Kaabi said cost approximately $26 billion to build, are part of the country’s core energy infrastructure. QatarEnergy had earlier declared force majeure on its entire LNG output following attacks on its Ras Laffan production hub.