QatarEnergy announced on March 19 that recent missile strikes on its Ras Laffan Industrial City have caused extensive damage, reducing the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by 17 percent and resulting in an estimated $20 billion loss in annual revenue. The company said repairs could take up to five years, affecting supply to markets in Europe and Asia.
The incident is significant because Qatar is a major global supplier of LNG, and the disruption will impact energy security for several countries. The attacks damaged two LNG production trains—Trains 4 and 6—which together account for about 12.8 million tons per annum of production. Train 4 is operated as a joint venture between QatarEnergy (66%) and ExxonMobil (34%), while Train 6 is a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%).
His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “I am relieved to confirm that no one was injured by these unjustified and senseless attacks, which weren’t just an attack on the State of Qatar but attacks on global energy security and stability. This was an attack on all of us who stand for development and human progress that is sustained by a fair, reliable, and secure access to energy.”
Al-Kaabi also stated: “The damage sustained by the LNG facilities will take between three to five years to repair. The impact is on China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium. This means that we will be compelled to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts.”
In addition to the LNG facilities, the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility operated by Shell was also targeted. One of its two trains is expected to be offline for at least one year as damage assessments continue.
The outages will result in losses across several associated products: condensates exports are expected to drop by about 18.6 million barrels (24% of exports), LPG by approximately 1.281 million tons (13%), naphtha by around 0.594 million tons (6%), sulfur by about 0.18 million tons (6%), and helium by roughly 309.54 MCFA (14%).
Al-Kaabi paid tribute to Qatari military, security forces, and emergency response teams “whose courage and extraordinary professionalism ensured the situation was contained quickly and safely.”
