Strait of Hormuz Crisis Stalls Qatar’s $83 Billion LNG Expansion

The March 18 attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City disabled two LNG trains and damaged Shell’s Pearl gas-to-liquids plant, removing 12.8 million tons of annual capacity. QatarEnergy expects these facilities to remain offline for three to five years. While the company initially aimed to boost output from 77 million to 142 million tons a year by 2030, current production is reduced to a nominal volume. Al-Kaabi stated that normal operations depend entirely on the restoration of safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

To mitigate the shortfall, Qatar is leaning on the Golden Pass joint venture in Texas, which is expected to reach full capacity by mid-2027. Despite the volatility, Al-Kaabi maintains that QatarEnergy will eventually secure its position as the world's largest LNG trader. He dismissed calls for pipeline bypasses, citing the prohibitive costs of constructing redundant liquefaction terminals abroad. Meanwhile, global energy markets are feeling the strain; gas prices in Asia and Europe have surged to levels not seen since the 2022-2023 energy crisis, with further hikes anticipated as winter demand approaches.