Middle East war upends global gas, LNG trade

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The outbreak of war in the Middle East has upended global gas and LNG trade.

Platts key European and Asian benchmarks surged as much as 57% on March 2 as markets grappled with the conflict’s impact on the crucial supply hub.

A key jolt came around noon London time March 2nd when QatarEnergy said it would halt LNG production.

It’s a major development on top of the already dramatic drop in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway connecting the region to global buyers.

Qatar is the world’s second-largest LNG supplier, behind only the US.

In 2025, it shipped about one in every five tons of the super-chilled fuel on the global market.

Asia takes in most of those exports and buyers there are already responding.

In India, sources tell Platts that importers are curtailing gas supplies to downstream buyers. 

The EU only brought in about 8% of its LNG supplies from Qatar last year. Still, it’s set to convene its gas coordination group on March 4th.

It remains to be seen whether the Qatar stoppagethe fighting in the Persian Gulf bringss a short-term squeeze, or a longer-term shift in fundamentals. A lot rides on how long itthe disruptions last.