MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Disruptions to liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar due to a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the US and Israeli military operation against Iran would increase demand for Russian LNG in Asia, experts interviewed by TASS said.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key oil and gas export route linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and further with the Indian Ocean, through which more than 20% of global oil and LNG supplies pass. The Financial Times earlier reported that the flow of large vessels through the Strait of Hormuz had virtually dried up.
"Demand for our volumes in the event of prolonged problems in Hormuz will increase not only in the East, but also from European countries," research director at consulting company Implementa Maria Belova said.
Sergey Kaufman, analyst at Finam Financial Group, shares this view, noting that disruptions in Qatari supplies could facilitate the gradual reorientation of Russian LNG to Asia-Pacific markets by increasing demand for it.
Earlier, state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy announced the suspension of LNG and related products production due to Iranian airstrikes. Qatar is the world’s third-largest LNG exporter after the United States and Australia. Its LNG production capacity stands at 77 mln tons per year. The country has also announced plans to expand its LNG plants to 142 mln tons.
Russia produced 32.9 mln tons of LNG in 2025, down 3.6% year-on-year. Of this volume, 9.79 mln tons were supplied to China (up 18.2%), while 20.3 bln cubic meters were shipped to Europe. Russia currently operates two large-scale LNG projects — Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2. Another project, Arctic LNG 2 (first train), has not yet been officially launched, though exports of individual cargoes to China have been reported. Russia also operates two mid-scale LNG plants in the Baltic region — Gazprom LNG Portovaya and Cryogas-Vysotsk — which have been added to the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list.
The United States and Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. At the same time, US leadership openly called on the Iranian population to rise up against their government and seize power.
As a result of the strikes, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other senior figures in the leadership of the Islamic Republic were killed.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also hit.