The Iran attack on the on Ras Laffan natural gas site may hurt world production for the years to come.
If Qatar's assessment is correct and not meant to increase fear, the Iranian attack on Ras Laffan not only wipes out 17% of Qatar's export capacity (about 13 million tons of liquefied natural gas, LNG per year) for 3–5 years but also breaks the assumption that there will always be more Qatari gas in the future to rescue the market in times of crisis.
Until the war, Qatar exported 77 million tons per year and built its entire expansion strategy on increasing to 110, then to 126, and finally to 142 million tons per year by 2030.
In other words, the market is not only losing current supply, it is also losing part of the “security cushion” on which Europe and Asia have relied for the coming years.
