Qatar officially informed its customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China today, making it clear in practice that the war in the Gulf prevents it from fulfilling part of its gas contracts. 

Behind the "force majeure" formula used by Qatar lies a simple truth – the supplier once considered a cornerstone of the global LNG market can no longer guarantee stability. 

If indeed about 17% of Qatar's export capacity has been affected, as it claims, today's announcement signals that the world is now entering a more expensive and tense struggle for every available cargo.