Oil Isn't the Only Fuel in the Persian Gulf Firing Line
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-13/hormuz-tanker-attacks-threaten-lng-shipments-tooNews 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 Emirates. Exports from Qatar and the U.A.E. must transit the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint near where the two tankers were hit.
In theory, an extended conflict along the lines of the so-called tanker war of the 1980s could have a serious impact on the LNG trade. Just over 26% of all LNG cargoes passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2018, according to data from BP Plc, close to the roughly 30% of oil flows estimated by the Energy Information Administration. Qatar accounts for the vast majority of those – and a large proportion of the imports taken by a number of countries outside the region:
