QatarEnergy ready to restart LNG output, reach current capacity in one month, source says

DUBAI: QatarEnergy is ready to resume liquefied natural gas production ​at its Ras Laffan LNG plant very quickly ‌and could reach within a month full output of facilities unaffected by Iranian strikes, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. 

Two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains and ​one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in ⁠the strikes, which knocked out 17% of the country's ​LNG export capacity, and will take years to repair, the ​group's CEO told Reuters in March.

However, production at other facilities, idled because of the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz oil ​and LNG export gateway for the region during the Iran ​war, could be quickly restored, the source said.

"The problem will be how ‌fast ⁠can we bring ships in and how fast we can load them after the strait opens," the person, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "It's more of a shipping ​and logistics problem ​than production."

Despite ⁠a framework agreement between the U.S. and Iran on terms to end their war and reopen ​Hormuz, a little more than a dozen LNG ​tankers ⁠have managed to exit the strait since the war began in late February.

Shippers are awaiting reassurance on safety to cross the ⁠strait, ​including the clearing of mines, which ​could delay a return to normal shipping traffic by weeks.