QatarEnergy confirmed on 19 March that its liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities were targeted by missiles, causing fires and "extensive damage."
The attacks followed a separate barrage in Ras Laffan Industrial City on 18 March that caused “extensive damage” to the company’s Pearl GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility. The incident also sparked significant fires, though no casualties were reported from either attack.
Saad al-Kaabi, CEO of QatarEnergy, confirmed to Reuters that attacks from Iran destroyed 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity. He added that two of the country’s 14 LNG trains are out of service and that two GTL facilities were also damaged in the strikes. The CEO said repairs may take 3 to 5 years and that the company will declare force majeure on some long-term contracts.
The Pearl GTL facility is a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Shell, which owns a 100% stake, and is a two-train facility of equal size producing 140,000 BOE/D of GTL from 1.6 Bcf/D feed gas. Shell confirmed on its website that one of the trains was damaged and that all production from the facility has ceased as it assesses the damage.
The CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Sultan Al Jaber, said in a post on LinkedIn that energy infrastructure across the Gulf region has come under attack, including ADNOC’s.
“This is an unjustified, unprovoked, and illegal attack on a peaceful nation. But it is not just a regional issue—it is global economic warfare. Energy flows are being weaponized,” he added in the post, while calling for de-escalation and stability.
The attacks against Qatar and neighboring countries’ energy facilities followed Israeli airstrikes on the South Pars gas field, Iran’s largest gas-producing asset, which is shared with Qatar.
A research note from Rystad Energy said Iranian strikes have also targeted facilities in Saudi Arabia, though the country’s loadings continue.
US President Donald Trump denied US responsibility for the attack on the South Pars gas field, which he attributed to Israel, and said no more attacks will be made on the field “unless Iran unwisely decides to attack” Qatar. Trump warned that if more attacks are made against Qatar, the US “will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars.”
As the US-Israel war against Iran stretched into its 20th day, causing historic global energy disruptions, the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan issued a joint statement expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait [of Hormuz]. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”