QatarEnergy halted all liquefied natural gas production on Sunday after two Iranian drones struck facilities at Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City. The state-owned company declared force majeure on its LNG contracts, freeing it from delivery obligations until further notice.
European benchmark TTF gas futures spiked as high as €46 per megawatt-hour on Monday, up nearly 50% from Friday. Asian LNG spot prices jumped almost 39%. Goldman Sachs warned that TTF could hit €74/MWh if flows through the Strait of Hormuz stay shut for a full month.
Ras Laffan handles a fifth of global LNG supply
The Ras Laffan complex sits about 80 kilometers north of Doha. It is the single largest LNG export facility on the planet, responsible for roughly 20% of global supply. A second drone hit a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed, 40 kilometers south of the capital. Qatar's Defense Ministry confirmed both were launched from Iran.
Qatar supplies between 12% and 14% of Europe's LNG imports. That makes the shutdown especially painful for European buyers, whose gas storage sat at just 35% of capacity heading into March. That is the lowest seasonal level since the 2022 energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Attacks hit oil and gas infrastructure across the Gulf
Saudi Aramco also shut its 550,000 barrel-per-day Ras Tanura refinery on Sunday after intercepting Iranian drones over the facility. A 70% drop in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has choked both oil and gas shipments from the Persian Gulf.
Beijing responded by calling for an immediate ceasefire. Several Asian LNG buyers have already reached out to suppliers outside the Middle East for emergency March deliveries, according to shipping brokers and traders.
North Field expansion timeline at risk
The shutdown complicates Qatar's $28.75 billion North Field expansion. QatarEnergy had planned to bring the first of four new mega-trains online by mid-2026, lifting total capacity from 77 million tons per annum to 126 MTPA. Physical damage at Ras Laffan, if confirmed, could push that schedule back.
US natural gas futures at Henry Hub traded at $3.12 per million British thermal units on Monday, up modestly from Friday. American LNG exporters on the Gulf Coast could see a bump in orders if European and Asian buyers scramble for non-Middle Eastern cargoes.
No timeline has been given for restarting production at Ras Laffan.