Qatar has invoked force majeure in liquefied natural gas contracts with several countries, including Europe
QatarEnergy, Qatar's state-owned company that manages all oil and gas activities, has declared force majeure on long-term contracts to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG), including to customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China, Reuters and Al Jazeera report.
Tuesday's decision comes amid production and supply disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.
Force majeure is a contractual clause that allows a party to be relieved of its obligations due to unforeseeable events. Oil companies in Kuwait and Bahrain have also recently invoked force majeure.
Global energy markets were rocked after the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.
Iranian missile and drone strikes throughout the Middle East, including the Gulf region, have targeted oil and gas facilities.
In addition, Iran has almost completely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Gulf waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil and LNG supplies transit.
Major disturbances in the natural gas market
The attacks and the closure of the strait have heightened concerns as energy prices have risen sharply.
Saad al-Kaabi, director general of QatarEnergy, said last week that an Iranian attack on Qatar's Ras Laffan gas facility knocked out about 17 percent of the country's LNG export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in annual losses and jeopardizing supplies to Europe and Asia.
Saad al-Kaabi told the Reuters news agency that two of the 14 gas liquefaction facilities, as well as one of the two gas-to-liquids conversion facilities, were damaged by the Iranian strikes.
He said the repairs would take 12.8 million tons of LNG production out of service for three to five years.
Qatar and the Gulf states have condemned both the Iranian and Israeli strikes on energy infrastructure
The Iranian attack on Ras Laffan came after the Israeli military targeted Iran's South Pars offshore gas field, the world's largest, located off the coast of the southern Bushehr province.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned Israel for attacking South Pars, pointing out that this Iranian gas field is an extension of Qatar's North Field.
The attack was “a dangerous and irresponsible step in the context of the current military escalation in the region,” al-Ansari said in a statement. “Targeting energy infrastructure poses a threat to global energy security, as well as the region's populations and environment,” he continued.
Qatar and other Gulf countries have also condemned Iran's continued attacks on energy infrastructure across the region, stressing that the strikes violate international law and the United Nations Charter.
