Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, has warned that escalating war in West Asia could halt Gulf energy exports and push oil prices to USD 150 a barrel, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Kaabi said all energy exporters in the Gulf could be forced to declare force majeure within days if the conflict continues, adding that even if the war stopped immediately it could take “weeks to months” for deliveries to return to normal cycles.
“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure,” he said.
He also warned the economic fallout would be global if the conflict dragged on. “If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted,” Kaabi said, adding that higher energy prices and supply disruptions could trigger shortages and disrupt industrial supply chains.
Qatar is one of the world’s most influential energy exporters and a leading LNG supplier, with cargoes that help meet demand across Asia and Europe. Its gas exports are a central pillar of global energy trade and play a stabilising role in international markets during periods of supply disruption.
Oil prices have already surged amid fears of prolonged disruption in the region, with US oil futures rising to their highest level in 20 months as investors price in a prolonged war, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — which carries about 20% of the world’s oil supply — has dropped by more than 95% as tankers avoid the route, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
