(The Center Square) – U.S Gulf Coast LNG export plants are poised to increase shipments in global markets desperate for gas supplies as damage assessments show a year or longer will be needed to repair Qatar’s giant LNG production facility located along the Persian Gulf.
Iranian missile strikes late Wednesday caused extensive damage to the Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG export hub capable of loading several super-sized tankers simultaneously and processing over 77 million tons of gas annually.
The disruption has wiped out approximately 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity, leading to forced suspensions on long-term contracts to Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China. Qatar officials estimate LNG production units with 12.8 million tons of annual capacity that were expected to come online in 2026 will instead take three to five years to repair.
“When LNG buyers can’t get the gas from the original source, they take it from whoever might have it available, and right now that’s basically the U.S. and Australia,” said Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute.
Smith notes that hundreds of ships – including many LNG vessels – are currently trapped in the Persian Gulf north of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing them from delivering their cargos, further complicating the delivery of LNG in global markets.
Since the conflict began at the end of February, the price of benchmark European TTF natural gas has risen approximately 72% to $13.15 per million btu. U.S. Henry Hub natural gas futures for delivery in April settled Friday at $3.01 per million btu. The benchmark Japan-Korea market traded Friday at $22.35 per million btu.
LNG plants in Texas and Louisiana already account for about 25% of all global export capacity, and production at these facilities in the months ahead will rise further.
In 2026, Houston-based Venture Global expects to bring LNG production units online at its Plaquemines plant in Louisiana, while Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between ExxonMobil and state-owned QatarEnergy, commenced operations in December and will continue to ramp up output through the end of 2026.
On March 13, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright authorized an immediate 13% increase in exports at the Plaquemines plant, allowing additional LNG shipments of up to 0.45 billion cubic feet per day.
“At a time when Iran and its terrorist proxies attempt to disrupt the global energy supply, the Trump Administration remains committed to strengthening American energy dominance,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “We will see meaningful additions to U.S. LNG export capacity at Plaquemines immediately and other facilities commencing operations in future weeks and months.”
Tulane’s Smith said the United States is not insulated from price increases in global LNG markets, so American consumers can expect to see higher costs for electricity and some manufactured goods.
“Even though LNG accounts for only about 12% to 14% of our total output of natural gas, feeding those LNG plants influences the price the public pays for residential gas supplies in Louisiana and other states,” Smith said. “The local gas utilities are generally going to pass the higher costs onto ratepayers.”
Louisiana Midcontinent Oil and Gas Association President Tommy Faucheux said recent events in Iran and Venezuela have caused many to look to the U.S. for leadership and energy security.
“Thanks to the American Energy Dominance Agenda, our country is in a very different place than we were during past Middle Eastern conflicts when we were dependent on foreign sources of energy. We are now a net energy exporter, thanks in no small part to the energy industry we have developed here in our state,” Faucheux said.
