From world's biggest LNG exporter to importer: How Iran war, Hormuz closure forced Qatar to turn to US gas

State-owned QatarEnergy is reportedly in talks with Venture Global, Cheniere, Woodside and other US producers for multi-year Liquefied Natural Gas, (LNG) deals to replace lost export volumes from its damaged Ras Laffan facility, trading and industry sources told Reuters.The move comes as the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic trade route, continues to be in a chokehold amid the ongoing Iran-US war.The Ras Laffan complex suffered major disruptions after two of its 14 LNG trains and a gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility were damaged by Iranian strikes in March.The discussions also mark a shift from QatarEnergy's purchases of dozens of US spot LNG cargoes to help meet commitments to some of its Asian clients, suggesting it is now seeking longer-term solutions to cover the shortfall, Reuters reported.Qatar: From world's biggest LNG exporter to importerQatar was among the world's biggest LNG exporters before the war in Iran began in February 2026.

It is among several other Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran) that rely on the Strait of Hormuz, located off the Iranian coast, to deliver the vast majority of their oil exports. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that over 110 bcm of LNG passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025. It claimed that about 93 per cent of Qatar’s and 96 per cent of the UAE’s LNG exports transited through the Strait, representing almost one-fifth of global LNG trade.

There are no alternative routes to bring these volumes to market.Most LNG from Qatar and the UAE goes to Asia. According to Reuters, about 80 per cent of Qatar's LNG shipments are typically exported to buyers in Asia.Before the conflict erupted in late February, Qatar had been advancing plans to nearly double production from its Ras Laffan LNG export complex by 2030, Bloomberg reported.However, the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian attacks eliminated roughly 17 per cent of Qatar’s liquefaction capacity.Saad al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy's CEO and state minister for energy affairs, told Reuters in March this year that Iranian attacks knocked out 17 per cent of Qatar's LNG export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia.Saad al-Kaabi had said two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in the unprecedented strikes.

The repairs will sideline 12.8 million tons per year of LNG for three to five years, he said in an interview.The Ras Laffan facility in Qatar, which is the world's largest liquefaction facility, has been offline since an attack on March 2, the IEA said in its report. Regional gas production is also affected by the shutting in of oil fields, which has reduced the output of gas associated with oil production.According to the IEA's latest quarterly Gas Market Report, damage to LNG liquefaction infrastructure in Qatar "is set to reduce projected supply growth, delaying the anticipated global LNG supply wave."

The report claimed, "Short-term supply losses and slower capacity growth could result in a cumulative loss of around 140 billion cubic metres of LNG supply between 2026 and 2030."" While new liquefaction projects in other regions are expected to offset these losses over time, the impacts of these disruptions could be felt through 2026 and 2027," it added.In March, the QatarEnergy CEO had said it would have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts for up to five years for LNG supplies bound for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China due to the two damaged trains, Kaabi said."

I mean, these are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it's whatever the period is," he had said.Impact of Strait of Hormuz closureThe disruption of transit via the Strait of Hormuz has reduced LNG supplies from Qatar and the UAE by over 300 million cubic metres per day since 1 March – which translates into a loss of over 2 billion cubic metres of gas supply every week, the IEA said.With uncertainty about when flows would resume through the major waterway, many clients in Asia started to seek alternatives to Qatari LNG.

Some market participants are stress-testing scenarios in which no Qatari gas is available, as source told Reuters.According to a report, two ballast QatarEnergy-linked vessels, the Al Ghashamiya and the Al Daayen, appeared inside the Strait of Hormuz this week on September 9 and 6, respectively, after last being seen outside the waterway on September 6 and 3. Another QatarEnergy-controlled vessel, Al Marrouna, also exited the Strait of Hormuz this week, delivering a cargo from Ras Laffan to Pakistan on September 10.

The voyage marked the first known LNG shipment aboard a Qatar-linked tanker since late July, when Al Areesh carried a cargo from Ras Laffan also to Pakistan.Meanwhile, in the Red Sea, Iran-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen's port city of Mocha on Thursday and advanced down the Red Sea coast to strategic islands, military sources said.In the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday, 26 commodity vessels travelled through, tracking data showed.

Of these, 10 vessels entered and 16 exited.QatarEnergy's new US LNG planQatarEnergy is negotiating with several producers to secure multi-year US LNG contracts through 2031, three trading and industry sources told Reuters.QatarEnergy Trading, the trading arm of QatarEnergy that managed 10 million tons of the company's LNG portfolio, is seeking 2-3 million metric tons per annum through to 2031, they said. "They will have to buy whatever they can get their hands on," a fourth source was quoted as saying.QatarEnergy did not respond to a Reuters request for immediate comment.

Venture Global and Cheniere declined to comment, while Woodside LNG said it does not comment on market speculation.US projects under construction have a total of 25 million metric tons of LNG available for purchase, according to data compiled by research firm Rapidan Energy.Venture Global has the most LNG available with 10 mtpa uncontracted, with both Cheniere and Woodside Energy's having 6 mtpa also available for sale and 3 mtpa available from Sempra's Port Arthur LNG project, the Rapidan data shows."

Qatar's current pursuit of long-term LNG volumes from other producers to help Qatar deliver into their customer contracts indicates that Qatar now sees risk to their ability to export LNG for several years," said Saul Kavonic, head of energy research and advisory at MST Marquee." It signals that Qatar considers the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz may prove longer lasting, and the damage to Qatari LNG infrastructure has been more extensive and may take longer to repair than initially hoped," he added.