Qatar pauses LNG shipments by Red Sea route amid strikes on Houthi targets

Qatar, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas exporters, has paused a number of vessels set to cross through the Bab Al Mandeb off the coast of Yemen where disruptions to Red Sea LNG traffic have heightened after US-led strikes on Houthi targets.

Four Qatari vessels were delayed on the weekend following US and UK attacks against Houthi militants in Yemen targeting the critical trade route, according to ship-tracking data by London-based Independent Commodity Intelligence Services.

Three laden Qatari tankers, the Al Ghariya, Al Huwaila and Al Nuaman, that were signalling a course to the Suez Canal cut their speed on January 14 and started circling off the coast of Oman, east of the strait, Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS, said in a report on Monday.

A fourth vessel, the ballast Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat, which was returning to Qatar, cut its speed on January 13 and is now paused in the middle of the Red Sea, he said.

State-owned QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to media’s request for comment.

“In the last couple of weeks most LNG tankers have started to avoid the Red Sea and divert around the Cape of Good Hope instead. However, until now Qatari and Russian cargoes had continued to use the route,” Mr Froley said in a LinkedIn post on Monday.

“It could take a Qatari cargo around 27 days to reach north-west European countries like the UK going around South Africa, compared with 18 days going through the Suez Canal.”

The Suez Canal is a major artery for global trade, with significant LNG exports mainly consisting of deliveries from Qatar to Europe and exports from the US and Russia to Asia.

In 2022, Qatar’s LNG trade with Europe through the canal stood at 19.84 million tonnes, ahead of the second-largest trade flow from the US, according to Rystad Energy data.

Last year, the Gulf country exported 13.74 million tonnes of LNG to the continent.

Sending Qatari ships to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope, off Southern Africa, would mean extending the travel time by about 17 days, doubling the current duration of the voyage, according to Rystad Energy.

Since the move away from Russian gas supplies by much of Europe, there has been a greater reliance on LNG supplies, including from the Middle East, said Philip Chong, partner in the International Arbitration team at law firm Ashurst.