Qatar appears to have loaded its first liquefied natural gas cargoes after the widening conflict in the Middle East forced it to halt fuel production and declare an unprecedented force majeure to buyers.
The vessel Al Ghashamiya loaded this week at the nation’s Ras Laffan export terminal and is now waiting in the Persian Gulf, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. A second tanker, the Lebrethah, departed from the terminal on March 6, and its draft level increased, suggesting a cargo on board, the data show.
The Lebrethah is signaling Bangladesh as its next destination, with an estimated arrival on March 14. Yet the trip still depends on navigation in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed for commercial ships given continued hostilities in the region. The tanker may serve as storage until the route is open.
Earlier this week, Qatar shut the world’s biggest LNG export plant, Ras Laffan, following an Iranian drone assault. Even before that, traffic through Hormuz was all but ground to a halt, with the route normally accounting for about a fifth of the world’s LNG supplies.
A spokesperson for QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the loading or destination.
LNG export plants can continue to load a certain number of tankers with fuel even after a facility has shut down, using liquefied gas from storage tanks. Qatar’s energy minister Sherida Al-Kaabi told the Financial Times that restarting the plant could take weeks or even months.
