Qatar has ruled out using pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, saying the alternative would require new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities outside the country which does not make economic sense.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and chief executive of Qatar Energy, said neighbouring countries had offered to let Qatar use an alternative route through their territories.
However, LNG cannot simply be transported through a conventional gas pipeline. Qatar would have to send natural gas through the pipeline and build new facilities at the other end to turn it into LNG.
Al-Kaabi said this would duplicate the large facilities already being built in Qatar as part of the North Field expansion. He said the decision was based on commercial and technical grounds.
He also rejected US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s prediction that the Strait of Hormuz could become “worthless” within two years as Gulf countries develop alternative routes.
Al-Kaabi called the assessment “completely wrong”, saying the strait carried trade in many products, not only oil and gas.
The wider North Field expansion is intended to raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes a year to 142 million tonnes by 2030.
The first production unit at the North Field East project is now expected to begin operating in the first half of 2027. It had previously been due to start production in 2026.
Al-Kaabi said later units could also be delayed if the disruption prevented equipment from reaching Qatar. The North Field South project is expected to begin production in 2028.
Qatar is currently exporting only a small volume of LNG through the strait. Al-Kaabi said undamaged units at Ras Laffan could return to normal operations within a few weeks of Hormuz reopening.
Attacks on Ras Laffan in March damaged two LNG production units and reduced Qatar’s export capacity by around 17%. Al-Kaabi said repairs to the two units would take three years.
Repairs to a damaged gas-to-liquids unit are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.
Outside the Gulf, the first production unit at the Golden Pass LNG project in the United States has started shipping cargoes. Al-Kaabi said the second and third units were expected to be fully operational next year.
He also said QatarEnergy expected to become the world’s largest LNG trader “in the very near future”.
The disruption has also hit the wider economy. Qatar’s GDP fell 7% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, official figures showed.
