New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): Iranian strikes on Qatar's energy infrastructure crippled 17 per cent of the nation's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, potentially sidelining production for up to five years, as per a Reuters report.

QatarEnergy's CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that the attacks resulted in an estimated USD 20 billion loss in annual revenue and posed a direct threat to global energy supplies across Europe and Asia. The disruption occurred following an unprecedented series of strikes aimed at Gulf oil and gas facilities, which Iran launched after Israeli attacks on its own gas infrastructure.

The strikes hit two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities. Al-Kaabi stated that the extent of the damage required a timeline of three to five years to restore the 12.8 million tons per year of LNG capacity.

In an interview, Al-Kaabi expressed disbelief over the timing and source of the aggression, noting the regional implications of the strike. 'I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be - Qatar and the region - in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way,' he said.

The disruptions forced state-owned QatarEnergy to consider declaring force majeure on long-term contracts for LNG supplies destined for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. Al-Kaabi noted that while shorter-term declarations occurred earlier, the current damage necessitated longer extensions due to the severity of the infrastructure loss.

'I mean, these are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it's whatever the period is,' he explained.

U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil remains a key partner in the affected infrastructure, holding a 34 per cent stake in LNG train S4 and a 30 per cent stake in train S6.

The impact of the strikes reached well beyond the LNG sector. Qatar's condensate exports projected a 24 per cent decline, while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) output fell by 13 per cent. Helium production dropped by 14 per cent, with naphtha and sulphur both seeing a 6 per cent decrease.

Al-Kaabi estimated that the damaged units cost approximately USD 26 billion to build and emphasized that production could only resume once the conflict ended. 'For production to restart, first we need hostilities to cease,' he said. (ANI)