CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Business / Qatar Business

QatarEnergy declares force majeure on some LNG contracts

Published: 24 Mar 2026 - 05:40 pm | Last Updated: 24 Mar 2026 - 05:51 pm
Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: QatarEnergy on Tuesday declared force ​majeure on some of its ⁠affected ​long-term ​liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, according to a Reuters report published today, March 24, 2026.

This includes long-term LNG supply ​contracts with counterparties, including ‌customers ⁠in Italy, Belgium, ​South ​Korea, ⁠and ​China.

In a previous statement, HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy said that the Iranian missile strikes which occurred on March 18 and March 19, damaged two LNG producing Trains 4 and 6 totaling 12.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) of production, representing approximately 17% of Qatar’s exports.

He further added that the damage sustained by the LNG facilities is expected to take between three to five years to repair, impacting supply to China, South Korea, Italy, and Belgium. “This means that we will be compelled to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts,” His Excellency said in a previous statement.

Force majeure refers to a common contractual clause that excuses parties from fulfilling obligations due to unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. 

Qatar Energy had to stop production of LNG and downstream products including urea, polymers, methanol, aluminum and more following Iranian attack on its facilities.