QatarEnergy declares force majeure after Iran strikes on Ras Laffan facility | Fox Business

FOX Business' Stuart Varney examines the escalating global energy crisis fueled by Middle East conflict and evaluates the potential long-term economic and political consequences for the American consumer. Iranian strikes have cut about 17% of Doha’sliquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, QatarEnergy’s CEOtold Reutersin an interview on Thursday. Saad al-Kaabi said the disruption could result in an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threaten supplies to Europe and Asia. The CEO of the state-owned energy company, who is also Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs, told Reuters that damage to two LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids facilities will sideline roughly 12.8 million tons per year of output for three to five years. "I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be — Qatar and the region — in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way," said al-Kaabi. IRAN HOLDS WORLD ENERGY HOSTAGE WITH 'NIGHTMARE' STRAIT OF HORMUZ SEA MINES, FORMER CENTCOM OFFICIAL WARNS Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs and CEO of QatarEnergy, speaks during the LNG2026 conference at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha on Feb. 2, 2026.(Noushad Variyattiyakkal/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images) The attacks came after Iran targeted Gulf energy infrastructure in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its South Pars gas field on Wednesday. QatarEnergy said in several posts on X thatmissile and rocket attacks on itsfacilities at Ras Laffan Industrial City caused fires and extensive damage but no casualties. Qatar is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, accounting for nearly 20% of global supply, according to theU.S. Energy Information Administration. IRAN WARNS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WILL BE 'LEGITIMATE TARGETS' IF THEY JOIN CONFLICT Qatar Energy facilities in Mesaieed Industrial City, south of Doha, on March 4, 2026, after the company announced a shutdown of LNG production following reported Iranian attacks on energy installations.(Stringer/Getty / Getty Images) PresidentDonald Trumpsaid on his Truth Social platform that Israel would halt further strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field unless Tehran escalates, warning that the United States could respond with overwhelming force if Qatar’s LNG facilities are targeted again. "The United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of theSouth Pars Gas Fieldat an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before," Trump wrote. "I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so." Al-Kaabi told Reuters QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its entire LNG output following the attacks on Ras Laffan, allowing it to suspend deliveries due to the damage. "For production to restart, first we needhostilities to cease," he said. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, president and CEO of Qatar Petroleum and chairman of Qatar Gas, attends the 109th meeting of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries in Kuwait City on Dec. 12, 2022.(Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP He also explained that the state-owned company will have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts for up to five years covering supplies to Italy, Belgium,South Koreaand China due to damage to the two LNG trains. "If Israel attacked Iran, it's between Iran and Israel. It has nothing to do with us and the region," al-Kaabi told Reuters. "And so now, in addition to that, I'm saying that everybody in the world, whether it's Israel, whether it's the U.S., whether it's any other country, everybody should stay away from oil and gas facilities."