Oil Isn't the Only Fuel in the Persian Gulf Firing Line
Rising tensions after tanker attacks near the Hormuz Strait threaten the liquefied natural gas trade too.
An oil tanker said to have been attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Photographer: -/AFP/Getty Images
News of more mysterious tanker attacks, this time in the Gulf of Oman, had their predictable effect on (otherwise lifeless) oil prices Thursday morning. But there’s another fuel that plies those troubled waters: liquefied natural gas, or LNG. What might conflict, or the threat of it, mean for one of the fastest growing bits of the energy business?
The Middle East accounts for 29% of global LNG exports, centered on Qatar (the world’s largest exporter in 2018), Oman and the United Arab Emirates2. Exports from Qatar and the U.A.E. must transit the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint near where the two tankers were hit1.