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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 24 Mar 202624 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
QatarEnergy has \u200cdeclared force majeure on some of \u2060its long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts, including \u200cfor customers \u2060in Italy, Belgium, South Korea \u2060and China.<\/p>\n
The move on Tuesday comes amid production and supply disruptions<\/a> caused by the United States-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n Force majeure is a clause in contracts that allows a party to be excused from its obligations due to unforeseeable events. Petroleum companies in Kuwait and Bahrain have also recently invoked force majeure<\/a>.<\/p>\n Global energy markets have been reeling since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n Iranian missile and drone strikes across the Middle East, including most notably in the Gulf region, have targeted oil and gas facilities, prompting international condemnation.<\/p>\n Iran has also essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a critical Gulf waterway through which about one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and LNG supplies transit.<\/p>\n The attacks and the closure of the strait have spurred mounting concern as energy prices have soared.<\/p>\n Last week, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi<\/a> said an Iranian attack on Qatar\u2019s Ras Laffan gas facility wiped out about \u206017 percent of the country\u2019s LNG export capacity, causing an estimated $20bn in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and \u2060Asia.<\/p>\n Saad al-Kaabi told the Reuters news agency that two of Qatar\u2019s 14 LNG trains, the equipment used to liquefy natural gas, and one of its two gas-to-liquids facilities were damaged in Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n The repairs will sideline 12.8 million tonnes of LNG production per year for three to five years, he said.<\/p>\n The Iranian attack on Ras Laffan came after the Israeli military targeted<\/a> Iran\u2019s offshore South Pars gasfield, the largest in the world, located off the coast of the country\u2019s southern Bushehr province.<\/p>\n Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had condemned Israel for targeting South Pars<\/a>, noting that the Iranian gasfield is an extension of Qatar\u2019s North Field.<\/p>\n The attack marked \u201ca dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region\u201d, al-Ansari said in a statement. \u201cTargeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment\u201d.<\/p>\n