QatarEnergy Extends Force Majeure on LNG Deliveries Amid Hormuz Disruptions

QatarEnergy has extended its force majeure on liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to customers in Europe and Asia until early November due to ongoing disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.

The company first declared force majeure in March, and since then it has been renewed month by month as the disruption has lasted longer than initially expected. Italian utility Edison said that QatarEnergy would be unable to deliver another five LNG cargoes scheduled between late September and early November, bringing the total number of affected cargoes under Edison's contract since April to 29.

That represents around 3.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, but Edison has already replaced 21 of those cargoes equivalent to about 2 billion cubic meters. The impact is uneven across importing countries, with European Union LNG imports lower than a year earlier between April and August, and Chinese imports also declined.

According to Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a global research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, QatarEnergy was extending force majeure month by month because it still had no reliable date for normal exports to resume. She said the prolonged LNG loss from Qatar and the UAE could cause global trade to fall in 2026, even as output grows elsewhere.