More than 40 Qatari liquefied natural gas tankers are idle in Asian waters due to the shutdown of an export plant in Qatar. An additional blow to the market was dealt by the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war in the Middle East, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
According to an analysis by Bloomberg and Kpler, empty vessels have accumulated off India's west coast, near Sri Lanka, at the approaches to the Strait of Malacca, and east of Singapore. None of these vessels are currently carrying LNG.
The reason for this was a malfunction at the world's largest Qatari LNG export complex in Ras Laffan. After an Iranian drone attack in early March, the facility halted production, and later some of its parts suffered new damage.
Against this backdrop, Qatar, which is one of the key LNG suppliers in the world, temporarily lost the ability to ship gas in its usual volumes. Because of this, a significant part of the fleet remained without voyages.
Market disruptions
The situation demonstrates the scale of disruptions in the global LNG market, which has already been under severe pressure due to hostilities in the region. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant part of energy exports from the Persian Gulf passes, remains one of the key hubs of world trade.
According to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers, more than 800 LNG tankers are currently operating worldwide. Therefore, the downtime of the Qatari fleet has already become a noticeable factor for the global energy market.
Global LNG exports fall to six-month low due to Middle East war23.03.26, 06:19