Economy News

Qatar halts LNG output after Iranian drone strikes; European gas prices jump almost 50%

QatarEnergy halted production of liquefied natural gas on Monday 2 March after Iranian drones struck an energy facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City and a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed Industrial City. No casualties were reported. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and Bloomberg, says the company declared force majeure.

The impact on prices was immediate. Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose almost 50% on Monday and benchmark Asian LNG prices almost 39%, Al Jazeera reports. The New Arab says European gas prices jumped around 45–50% in a single day. Qatar supplies 20% of the global LNG market, and 82% of QatarEnergy's sales go to Asia; Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are the most directly exposed.

Shipping is also stuck. According to Reuters, at least 150 vessels, including LNG carriers, have anchored in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera says.

“I do not expect the 2022 gas crisis to repeat in Europe” — Maksim Sonin, Stanford University, via Al Jazeera

How each outlet framed it

• Al Jazeera — the global map: who buys Qatari gas, why South Asia is most exposed, and why Europe's winter may already be mostly behind it.
• The New Arab — the attack itself: QatarEnergy's statement, the defence ministry's account, and the North Field, which Qatar shares with Iran and which holds about 10% of known gas reserves.

What we don't know yet: how long Qatar stays offline. Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Security told Al Jazeera it would be “not good if Qatar stays offline for long”; the EU's gas coordination group was due to meet on Wednesday.