Qatar, the world’s biggest seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), can still access shipping routes to deliver oil and gas to buyers after Saudi Arabia and other neighboring states barred the emirate from exporting through their territorial waters, according to Bloomberg.
The escalation of tensions in the energy-rich Persian Gulf probably won’t disrupt LNG supplies to Qatar’s main customers in Asia, according to Dubai-based consultant Qamar Energy’s Head, Robin Mills. “In principle Qatar should still be able to export via its own waters, Iran and Oman,” Mills said.
Qatar exported 79.62m tons of LNG in 2016, which is around 30% of global supply, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers, known by its French acronym GIINGL. State-run Qatar Petroleum, the world’s fourth-largest oil and natural gas producer, has only five Middle Eastern customers for its gas Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, the U.A.E. and Egypt. LNG exports to these countries comprised about 10% of Qatar’s total shipments in 2016, Energy Voice stated.
“I presume LNG exports to the UAE will stop,” Qamar Energy’s Mills said. “The UAE will have to use other suppliers, but there are plenty of cargoes around at the moment.”