Qatar Sees Liquefied Natural Gas Restart Within Weeks of Hormuz Reopening as 17% Stays Offline
Key Facts
Qatar can return its undamaged liquefied-natural-gas operations to normal within a few weeks of the Strait of Hormuz reopening, Energy Minister and QatarEnergy Chief Executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said. The timetable corrects the impression that exports would restart immediately when the waterway opens.
Operational recovery will not restore all previous capacity. Missile strikes in March damaged 2 liquefaction trains with combined capacity of 12.8 million tonnes a year, or about 17% of Qatar's export capacity, and Al-Kaabi said repairs to the 2 trains would take about 3 years.
Reopening Hormuz affects the gas market by removing a shipping constraint on output from undamaged facilities, increasing deliverable supply and potentially easing spot-price pressure. The 17% capacity loss, along with tanker availability, insurance costs, demand and storage, means the price effect would be neither automatic nor immediate.
QatarEnergy has rejected a pipeline bypass because liquefied natural gas would have to be transported in gaseous form and then liquefied again at a receiving terminal, requiring duplicative infrastructure that it considers uneconomic. Safe commercial passage and actual cargo loadings would therefore provide clearer evidence of restored supply than a reopening announcement alone.
Latest Updates · 3
- Notable·
Update: Disruptions to Qatari LNG exports have spurred $60 billion in alternative energy agreements as markets seek to secure supply. These projects range from Argentina to Timor-Leste, highlighting a significant shift in buyer interest toward other regions to mitigate the risks associated with the ongoing regional conflict.
- Notable·
Update: Qatar's Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, stated that the ongoing Hormuz crisis could delay LNG expansion projects due to blocked deliveries of essential equipment. However, he confirmed that the first production train for the North Field East project remains on schedule to begin operations in 2027.
- Notable·
Update: In a notable diplomatic shift, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi dismissed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's claim that the Strait of Hormuz will become a worthless waterway within two years as "completely wrong." This rebuttal highlights a strategic disagreement between Doha and Washington regarding the long-term relevance of maritime chokepoints versus land-based pipeline alternatives amidst the ongoing regional conflict.