QatarEnergy’s CEO confirmed on 19 March that Iran’s retaliatory strike on its Ras Laffan natural gas facility has caused $20 billion in losses and has wiped out 17 percent of the Gulf state’s gas export capacity.
Two liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains and one gas-to-liquids facility were damaged in the Iranian operation.
The repairs will force Qatar to sideline 12.8 million tons per year of LNG for three to five years, said QatarEnergy chief Saad al-Kaabi.
“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be – Qatar and the region – in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way,” he lamented.
The state energy corporation may have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts “for up to five years for LNG supplies bound for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China due to the two damaged trains,” Kaabi went on to say.
“I mean, these are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it’s whatever the period is.”
US oil giant ExxonMobil is a partner in the damaged Qatari facilities. Kaabi said the company holds a 34 percent stake in LNG train S4 and a 30 percent stake in train S6.
As a result of the strikes, Qatar’s condensate will plunge by 24 percent.
The Iranian retaliation has sent the European gas benchmark soaring by 35 percent. According to Bloomberg, the price in Europe could reach €90 (around $104) per megawatt-hour, compared to the current price of around €66 ($76).
The Iranian attack on Ras Laffan coincided with several other strikes targeting gas infrastructure in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Habshan Gas Facility in the UAE and SAMREF Refinery in Saudi Arabia halted operations. The price of oil surged past $119 per barrel on 19 March.
Meanwhile, Iran’s retaliatory operations continue at an escalating pace despite Washington’s claims of decimating its launch capabilities.
An Iranian missile struck the Haifa Oil Refinery in Israel on Thursday, causing massive clouds of smoke over the site.
Israel had bombed Iran’s South Pars Gas Field earlier this week, with direct approval from US President Donald Trump. After the attack, Iran issued warnings to residents living near multiple Gulf energy sites.
Following Wednesday night’s strikes on the energy facilities in the Gulf, Tehran vowed that the response to the South Pars attack was “not over,” and warned the US and Israel that repeating an attack on Iranian energy infrastructure would be met with “total destruction” of all oil in the region.
