NEW DELHI: Missile attacks on Ras Laffan Industrial City, one of the world’s largest natural gas processing hubs operated by QatarEnergy, have reduced Qatar’s LNG export capacity by 17% and caused an estimated loss of $20 billion. Iran carried out the attack on Wednesday in response to Israel’s strike on its energy infrastructure.
QatarEnergy said the attacks, which occurred on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, and in the early hours of Thursday, March 19, 2026, could take up to five years to repair, impacting energy supplies to markets in Europe and Asia.
“I am relieved to confirm that no one was injured in these unjustified and senseless attacks, which were not just an attack on the State of Qatar but on global energy security and stability. This was an attack on all of us who stand for development and human progress sustained by fair, reliable, and secure access to energy,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy.
According to the company, the attacks damaged two LNG production units—Trains 4 and 6—together accounting for 12.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of capacity, or approximately 17% of Qatar’s LNG exports. Train 4 is a joint venture between QatarEnergy (66%) and ExxonMobil (34%), while Train 6 is owned by QatarEnergy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%).
“The damage sustained by the LNG facilities will take between three to five years to repair. The impact will be felt in China, South Korea, Italy, and Belgium. This means that we will be compelled to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts,” said Minister Al-Kaabi.
QatarEnergy also confirmed that the attacks targeted the Pearl GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility, operated by Shell under a production-sharing agreement. The plant converts natural gas into cleaner-burning fuels, base oils, paraffins, and waxes.
“The damage caused to one of the two trains at Pearl GTL is being assessed and is expected to remain offline for a minimum of one year,” he added.
The outage is also expected to significantly reduce associated product output, including condensates by 18.6 million barrels (around 24% of Qatar’s exports), LPG by 1.281 million tonnes (around 13%), naphtha by 0.594 million tonnes (around 6%), sulfur by 0.18 million tonnes (around 6%), and helium by 309.54 million cubic feet per annum (around 14%).
The situation has raised concerns for India, which depends heavily on energy imports from West Asia. According to the government, nearly 90% of India’s LPG imports and about 47% of its LNG imports come from the region, with Qatar being a key supplier. India is also the fourth-largest LNG importer globally.
“Any disruption in the Middle East directly impacts us. Therefore, the key question is: how do we deal with such risks? We are addressing this through diversification of supply sources. For crude oil, we have already diversified significantly—about 70% of our crude now comes from regions outside the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Similarly, for LPG, we are expanding sourcing beyond traditional suppliers. For LNG, while Qatar remains a major supplier, we are also sourcing from other countries such as the United States and Australia, which are major LNG exporters,” said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.