For the first time since the war began, Qatar has begun moving its LNG vessels to the Middle East, according to marine data. The development comes as the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway through which up to 84 per cent of the petroleum exports flow to Asian markets, began to open up following the peace agreement between Iran and the US.
Ship-tracking data revealed that at least four empty LNG vessels owned by Qatar recently began heading back toward the region after being idle or heading in a different direction, reported Bloomberg. Another ship chartered by Qatar is also on its way to the region, and all the tankers are signalling Ras Laffan — the world’s largest LNG export plant in Qatar — as their next destination.
This is besides the dozen other Qatar-linked tankers that are currently idling in the Gulf of Oman and could soon pass through Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.
India depends on imports to meet over 88% of its crude oil needs, 60% of its LPG, and approximately 50% of its natural gas requirements. Qatar alone accounts for 41.4 per cent of India’s total LNG imports, and in 2024–25, India imported 27 million tonnes of LNG, of which 11.2 million tonnes came from Qatar, almost entirely from the now-damaged Ras Laffan facility.
This hints that Qatar could soon restart its exports of LNG, which were substantially affected after Iran’s missile strikes on Ras Laffan. The strikes wiped out 17 per cent of Qatar’s LNG capacity.
The reopening of the Strait is also expected to ease India’s LPG crisis, as a staggering 90% of India’s LPG imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the Strait has been opened, the traffic has only begun to trickle in, with data showing over 250 tankers and more than 330 cargo ships inside the Gulf, of which about 75 per cent of the tankers are stationary. Satellite imagery shows that many are gathered near major oil export terminals in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE.
That’s because the danger has not really been averted. "It would take an extremely brave captain to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, given the current state," Martin Kelly of crisis management firm EOS Risk Group told BBC Verify.
According to reports, Iran continues to launch several drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz despite the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran on Sunday. All of the drones were intercepted by the US military before they posed a threat to American commercial or military ships and crew members.
US intelligence agencies state in an official and updated assessment that Iran is capable of completely blocking access to the Strait of Hormuz at any time from now on, which gives the government in Tehran an unprecedented strategic pressure tool on the global economy.
