As war strands Qatari gas for 6 months, US sales rise and European stocks plummet

By Marwa Rashad and Nora Buli

LONDON/OSLO, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Six months into the U.S.-Iran war, Qatar is among the conflict’s biggest economic casualties, with its liquefied natural gas exports slashed by 96%, data shows.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait have seen their oil exports hit, but by nowhere near as much.

Qatar has lost $24 billion in gas sales, which is about five months’ worth of income for the country based on 2025 data, Reuters calculations show.

While neighbouring Gulf exporters have managed to sneak oil secretly out of the Strait of Hormuz, Qatar has exported just 18 LNG cargoes, down from 509 in the same period last year, according to data intelligence firm ICIS. Two Qatari tankers have been attacked.

State-owned LNG producer QatarEnergy did not respond to a Reuters request for immediate comment.

Before the war Qatar supplied about one-fifth of the world’s daily LNG. Exports from the U.S. have offset some of that lost supply.

Still, European gas storage has fallen to a historic low for the time of year, exposing the continent to possible gas price spikes in the event of a cold winter this year.

(USD 1 = QAR 3.64)

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad in London, Nora Buli in Oslo and Curtis Williams in Houston; editing by Jason Neely)