Qatar Delays LNG Shipments to Europe Due to Red Sea Crisis

Qatar, a major exporter of liquefied natural gas, is delaying some shipments to Europe due to the Red Sea crisis, which has made travel times longer. This has been causing Qatar to reroute some shipments from other areas and exchange for available cargoes near Europe to meet contractual obligations. Since January 15, at least six shipments destined for Europe have been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa instead of taking the shorter route through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. This has resulted in longer journey times, delaying some deliveries to Europe.

For example, a QatarEnergy LNG load scheduled for early February in Italy is now postponed until later in the month due to the longer travel time caused by rerouting around Africa. Both QatarEnergy and Edison, the buyer of the LNG, have confirmed the delays. Despite the delays, Qatar has not reduced its overall LNG exports, and shipments from the country in the past two weeks were about 7% higher than the same period last year.

The Red Sea crisis, with missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi fighters, has caused disruptions for commercial ships in the area, but the gas market has largely been unaffected. European gas futures are near six-month lows, and there is ample alternative LNG supply to mitigate any potential supply disruptions.

Source .