Doha: Qatar announced on Thursday that Iranian missile strikes on the Ras Laffan Industrial City have resulted in a 17% reduction in the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity. The damage is projected to incur a financial loss of approximately $20 billion annually and may take up to five years to repair.

According to Anadolu Agency, state-owned QatarEnergy revealed on X, the US social media platform, that missile strikes occurred on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday, hitting the industrial city. This incident has disrupted supplies to markets in Europe and Asia. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy CEO, expressed relief that there were no injuries but condemned the attacks as threats to global energy security and stability.

QatarEnergy reported that LNG Trains 4 and 6, with a combined production capacity of 12.8 million metric tons per annum, were damaged. This comprises about 17% of Qatar's LNG exports. Train 4 is a joint venture between QatarEnergy, holding a 66% stake, and ExxonMobil, with 34%. Train 6 is co-owned by QatarEnergy with a 70% stake and ExxonMobil with 30%.

Al-Kaabi noted that repairing the LNG facilities could take between three and five years, compelling the company to declare long-term force majeure on some LNG contracts, affecting countries such as China, South Korea, Italy, and Belgium. Additionally, the Pearl GTL facility, operated by Shell, was also targeted. One of its two trains is expected to remain offline for at least a year while damage assessments continue.

The outage is anticipated to cause significant losses in associated product output, including 18.6 million barrels of condensates, 1.281 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 0.594 million tons of naphtha. These account for approximately 24%, 13%, and 6% of Qatar's exports, respectively. Losses are also expected in sulfur and helium exports.

This development occurs in the context of a joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran, which began on February 28, resulting in approximately 1,300 casualties. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes against Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets. Earlier this month, QatarEnergy declared force majeure on affected buyers after ceasing LNG and related product production following Iranian drone strikes.