Hopes for the resumption of gas shipments from the Middle East, which had been suspended since the outbreak of war in late February, have collapsed as Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz failed to overcome Iran’s de facto blockade and turned back.
On April 6 (local time), the UAE daily newspaper The National reported that two Qatari LNG carriers, the Marshall Islands-flagged Rasheeda and the Bahamas-flagged Al Dayyen, attempted to enter the Strait of Hormuz but gave up midway and reversed course.
The National reported that this is seen as a symbolic event demonstrating the severity of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, which is controlled by Iran.
Currently, Iran is only allowing limited passage for ships from so-called ‘friendly nations’ such as China, India, Pakistan, and Russia.
The fact that the Qatari ships turned back, in contrast to the successful passage of Chinese ultra-large container ships on April 30, is interpreted as a reflection of Iran’s hostile attitude toward Qatar.
With the export routes of Qatar, which accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s LNG supply, blocked, alarm bells are ringing in the global energy market. Amid estimates that approximately 17% of Qatar’s production facilities have already been damaged by an Iranian attack and will be impossible to restore for the next five years, a prolonged blockade of the strait would cause Qatar to suffer an annual loss of about $20 billion.
In particular, the fuel crisis is deepening for Asian countries, which have a high dependence on Qatari gas.
Experts are warning that the longer the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues, the closer the supply-demand imbalance in the global LNG market will come to a critical point.
“Iran’s ‘selective blockade,’ which allows Chinese ships to pass while turning back Qatari ships, is maximizing uncertainty in the energy market,” an energy market analyst said, predicting, “Unless a dramatic end-of-war agreement is reached between the United States and Iran, a global energy crisis this winter will be unavoidable.”
Source: Business Korea
