Gas giant QatarEnergy throttles LNG supply by declaring force majeure
- Shipping halt in Strait of Hormuz disrupts Qatar's LNG exports
- Qatar's LNG shutdown affects global gas markets, causing shortages
- Restarting LNG production is gradual to avoid equipment damage
Qatar declared force majeure on gas exports on Wednesday amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, with sources saying it may take at least a month to return to normal production volumes.
The move means global gas markets will experience shortages for weeks even in the unlikely scenario the conflict ends today, as Qatar supplies 20% of global liquefied natural gas.
State energy giant Qatar Energy, which stopped producing gas this week, will fully shut down gas liquefaction on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the matter said. They asked not to be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
Qatar Energy won't restart the facility for at least two weeks, according to initial estimates of the situation in the region, the sources said. Once the restart decision is taken, it will take another two weeks to turn gas into a super-chilled fuel and reach full capacity, the sources added. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Qatar accounts for about 20% of global LNG exports, all of which transit the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has ground to a near-halt amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran's retaliation.
Qatar supplies Europe and predominantly Asian markets, with over 80% of its customers in China, Japan, India, South Korea, Pakistan and other countries in the region.
Force majeure is a clause that frees parties from liability if any failure to meet supply obligations is due to events beyond their control.
Qatar Energy has started contacting some of its clients in Asia and Europe, but has not told them how long the shutdown might last.
The production halt has intensified competition between the Atlantic and Pacific basins for LNG cargoes, sending European and Asian gas prices and LNG freight rates to multi-year highs.
How shutdown and restart work. Shipping curtailment around the Strait of Hormuz has meant export cargoes cannot leave Qatar, and therefore the liquefaction process—which turns gas into a liquid state by cooling it down to approximately 162°C—cannot continue.
While Qatar Energy has significant storage capacity at the Ras Laffan liquefaction plant - roughly 760,000 m3 - that buffer is limited in the context of continuous production at this scale. At full rate, it would take only 1.6 days to fill up the tanks, said Mehdy Touil, lead LNG specialist and shareholder at Calypso Commodities, a tech company developing AI solutions for LNG.
The shutdown process is carried out gradually by first reducing production to minimum levels, lowering, stopping feed‑gas flows, and finally easing pressure back to upstream facilities to protect equipment, he said. To restart, the cooldown is the most critical step. It is intentionally slow to avoid thermal shock. Trains cannot all restart simultaneously; they must be sequenced, Touil added.
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