Six Empty LNG Tankers Head to Qatar as QatarEnergy Signals Restart
Ship-tracking data from Kpler shows carriers converging on Ras Laffan nearly six months after Iranian missiles knocked out 17% of Qatar's export capacity.
Six empty liquefied natural gas carriers were en route to Qatar on Monday (2026-09-07), according to Kpler ship-tracking data cited by Bloomberg, the clearest physical signal yet that QatarEnergy is preparing to restart loadings from Ras Laffan.7
Qatar's Ras Laffan complex holds annual production capacity of 77 million metric tons, making it the world's largest LNG export hub. Iranian missiles struck two of its key gas-processing units in mid-March 2026, removing roughly 17% of Qatar's export capacity and prompting QatarEnergy to curtail output earlier in March. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters the damaged units would take three to five years to repair. The Strait of Hormuz closure that followed trapped approximately 20% of global LNG supply inside the Gulf.3
The recovery path opened in mid-June. A US-Iran peace agreement on 2026-06-18 cleared the way for the first LNG tanker to cross the Strait and dock at Dahej, India on 2026-06-19. Within days, Qatar was routing more carriers through as exports gradually resumed, Business Standard reported on 2026-06-21.2,6
But the restart hit an early setback. On 2026-06-22, an explosion at the Barzan gas unit within Ras Laffan injured 54 workers and left 18 missing as operations were being restarted. Authorities called it a technical accident, CNBC reported. The incident showed that restart risk extended well beyond the units Iranian missiles had struck.3
During the week of 2026-06-15, QatarEnergy told customers it could restore roughly 50% of its production capacity within a month of safe Hormuz navigation being confirmed, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources. A full 80% recovery was achievable within two months. Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, told the Financial Times on 2026-06-24 that production would return to normal "within a few weeks."4,5
Those targets sit in tension with al-Kaabi's Reuters comment that the struck units would require three to five years to repair. The gap suggests most of Ras Laffan's idled volume was shut down by the Hormuz blockade rather than physically destroyed, and could be brought back once the strait was clear. Six tankers converging on the complex as of 2026-09-07 suggests QatarEnergy believes undamaged trains are ready to load.3,4,7
The scale of disruption extends well beyond Qatar's borders. Qatar accounts for roughly a fifth of global LNG supply. Europe, despite sourcing only 13% of its LNG imports from Qatar, remains exposed through global spot market tightness. ICE TTF front-month held at €71.95/MWh in early European trade (2026-09-07). JKM front-month last recorded $24.02/MMBtu (2026-09-07), still elevated against the supply backdrop.1,7
Asia faces a more direct squeeze. India imported more than 27 million tonnes of LNG in 2024/25, with Qatar supplying 11.2 million of those, according to government data. The Malta-flagged Disha, which docked at Dahej on 2026-06-19, was the first cargo to arrive via the Strait since the closure began.2
Rystad estimated in May 2026 that a one-month outage alone would cut annual global LNG output by more than 14%, set against demand forecast to rise by nearly 8% in 2026. The actual disruption has stretched well past that threshold. Wood Mackenzie forecast in June 2026 that prices would remain elevated for roughly 18 months before new capacity coming onstream tips markets toward oversupply.1,2
A confirmed restart at Ras Laffan would begin pulling JKM front-month and ICE TTF front-month prices down for winter delivery — another accident or fresh deterioration in Strait transit conditions would push the 2026-27 winter supply position deeper into deficit before that new capacity materialises.7