Finance
Energy markets
How One Strike on Qatar Flipped the Global Gas Market Into Deficit
In early March 2026, attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan complex knocked out an estimated 17% of LNG capacity, damaging two of 14 liquefaction trains and a gas-to-liquids unit and sidelining about 12.8 million tonnes a year for three to five years. QatarEnergy declared force majeure on contracts to Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China. Gas prices spiked, and a market braced for a record glut swung into a multi-year deficit. What LNG is, who is hit hardest, and what to watch.