Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil to $150 a barrel, the country’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.
“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure,” Kaabi told the FT.
Kaabi said even if the war ended immediately it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal cycle of deliveries.
Qatar halted its production of liquefied natural gas on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and U.S. strikes. The country’s LNG production is equivalent to about 20% of global supply and plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.
While there had been no damage to Qatar’s offshore operations, the aftermath onshore was still being reviewed, Kaabi told the newspaper.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; editing by Philippa Fletcher)