Qatar warns that the Middle East conflict could disrupt energy exports for weeks to months

The headlines here are starting to weigh on the market mood once again now as Kaabi warns that this could even drive oil prices up to $150 a barrel. He warns that while not all parties in the region have called for a force majeure yet, in which QatarEnergy has already done so, it will eventually happen.Kaabi says that Qatar would expect every exporter in the Gulf region to eventually call for a force majeure “in the next few days that this continues”. Adding that as the conflict becomes more prolonged, “everybody’s energy price is going to go higher”.For now, he maintains that there is no damage to Qatar’s offshore operations but their onshore capacity remains unclear. Kaabi says that they are still figuring out the extent of the damage and “it is not clear yet how long it will take to repair”.For some context: QatarEnergy halts LNG production after military attacks on its facilitiesKaabi goes on to warn that if vessels continue to be unable to pass the Strait of Hormuz, that could see crude prices hit $150. That as it would take “weeks to months” for operations to return back to normal, even if the conflict were to end soon.”Our ships are all over the place. Each ship takes a day or two and you can only load six or seven at a time.”The full report can be found here (may be gated).We’re seeing oil prices climb further on the headlines now with WTI crude oil hitting fresh highs of $82.85, up nearly 2% on the day. That is the highest level since July 2024.Meanwhile, US futures are also slumping with S&P 500 futures down 0.3%. In the FX space, the dollar is finding bids across the board after a slower start to the day earlier. EUR/USD is now down 0.2% to 1.1580 from 1.1610 earlier and GBP/USD down 0.1% to 1.3337 from around 1.3370 before the report.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

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