Smoke rises in Doha after reported Iranian missile attacks
European gas: From bad to much worse
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
Europe finds itself once more spiralling into a gas crisis as a result of the halt in Qatari LNG exports, with gas prices peaking on the morning of 4 March at their highest level since late 2023. The last global energy crisis was triggered by Russia cutting off roughly 80bcm/yr of gas supply to Europe in the space of a single year after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In a matter of days, the US-Iran war and Tehran’s subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have deprived the world of 110bcm/yr of gas. Most of Qatar’s LNG flows to Asia, but Europe is bearing the brunt of this loss of supply as its gas market was already in an extremely vulnerable position. The sharp price sp
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