Qatar may declare force majeure on long-term LNG contract with S. Korea, others: report

The CEO of QatarEnergy warned Thursday that the state-owned company may have to declare force majeure on long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts with countries, including South Korea, for up to five years, a report said. In an interview with Reuters, CEO Saad al-Kaabi said the disruption could impact shipments to Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China due to damage to two LNG production trains. "I mean, these are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it's whatever the period is," he said. Iranian attacks have knocked out 17 percent of Qatar's LNG export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia, al-Kaabi said.