QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said he warned United States officials and energy executives about the impact of a potential Iranian attack on oil and gas facilities before Tehran targeted Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex.
In an interview with the Reuters news agency, al-Kaabi explained that he “always warning, talking to executives from oil and gas that are partnered with us, talking to the US Secretary of Energy [Chris Wright], to warn him of that consequence and that that could be detrimental to us”.
“They were aware of the threat, and they were always reminded by me, almost on a daily basis, that we need to make sure that there is restraint on oil and gas facilities,” al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar’s energy minister, said.
Since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February, missiles and drone attacks have targeted tankers, refineries and other important energy infrastructure.
In retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, Tehran conducted a series of attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
But as US President Donald Trump said that he was unaware of the Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield ahead of time, al-Kaabi said they were also unaware that it was going to take place.
He explained that the attack on the facilities would impact LNG deliveries to Europe and Asia for up to five years, adding that it had taken out 17 percent of Doha’s export capacity.
“The cold boxes are gone,” he said, referring to the cooling mechanism that purifies and chills gas for transport as a liquid.
“This is the main unit, that is the cooling box of the LNG, it is completely destroyed,” al-Kaabi added.
White House spokesperson Taylor Roger told Reuters about al-Kaabi’s comments that Trump and his energy team were not “ignorant of the reality that there would be short-term disruptions to oil and gas supply during the ongoing operations in Iran, and planned for these highly anticipated, temporary disruptions”.
Still, he said that QatarEnergy’s production could only restart if hostilities end, but even then, it would take at least three to four months to resume fully.
Among QatarEnergy’s partners are key US energy companies, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
A ConocoPhillips spokesperson told Reuters that it remains “fully committed to our longstanding partnership and will continue to work with QatarEnergy on a path to recovery”.
