Ras Laffan Explosion Threatens To Slow Qatar LNG Ramp, Goldman Says

A major explosion at Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy complex late Sunday has killed at least 13 people and injured 66, raising concerns that the LNG restart could be slowed, despite no apparent direct hit to export capacity. Goldman Sachs energy expert Samantha Dart said the blast at Qatar’s Barzan gas plant likely prompts Qatar Energy to consider a precautionary delay in restarting LNG export trains. Dart estimates this could add about one month to the full ramp-up versus a base case where exports reach 83% of capacity by end of July. That scenario would lower northwest Europe end-October storage by roughly 4 percentage points to 70% versus 74%. The disruption follows sensitive timing: a US-Iran interim peace deal signed about a week earlier and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz days prior, while tanker and cargo transit data showed an uptick.