Qatar said that the complex hosting the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant suffered “significant damage” after a missile attack, hours after Iran warned of threats to energy installations across the Gulf.
The Ras Laffan industrial city was hit by an Iranian missile, while four others were intercepted, according to local authorities. The complex houses several facilities, including the LNG plant, which had production halted earlier this month and normally accounts for about a fifth of the global LNG supply.
QatarEnergy did not specify which facilities were hit. The Interior Ministry said the fire caused by the attack has been brought under control.
The attack on Ras Laffan represents a new escalation as the conflict broadens to involve the Gulf’s strategic energy infrastructure. Oil and natural gas prices surged earlier after Iran stated that several energy assets, including the LNG plant, would become “legitimate targets” following Israel’s attack on the giant South Pars gas field.
Global energy flows have been affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck through which a significant portion of the world’s oil and gas shipping passes. Large Gulf producers began cutting production as regional stocks approach the limit, and several plants were paralyzed after drone attacks.
The latest attacks, however, raise increasing doubts about how long supply may remain disrupted even after the Strait’s reopening.
Qatar had already suspended operations at the Ras Laffan plant in early March after an Iranian drone attack, and subsequently declared force majeure on deliveries from the complex.
Earlier this Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the facility was being evacuated as a precaution after being included on a list of potential targets disclosed by Iran.
Qatar “considers this aggression a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of the state’s sovereignty, as well as a direct threat to its national security and to the stability of the region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media on Wednesday.
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