Qatar's Energy Minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad al-Kaabi, stated that the Strait of Hormuz will not become obsolete, refuting claims by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that new pipelines would render it a "worthless piece of water" in two years. While new pipelines are being developed by Gulf nations and Iraq, analysts emphasize that these alternatives cannot fully replace the strait's capacity, especially for LNG and container shipping. Only a few ships are currently transiting the strait daily, a significant drop from over 100 before the conflict began more than six months ago, due to attacks by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The crisis has had a severe impact on Qatar's energy sector. QatarEnergy's North Field East (NFE) expansion, which includes new LNG trains, is due to start production in 2027, with the North Field South (NFS) expansion set for 2028. However, al-Kaabi warned that the ongoing crisis could delay some of these expansion projects because critical equipment cannot reach Qatar. Furthermore, Iranian strikes on Ras Laffan in March destroyed two production trains, taking approximately 17% of Qatar's LNG capacity offline for an estimated three to five years. Qatar is currently producing only a "very minute" volume of liquefied natural gas.
Despite alternative overland routes being utilized for some commodities, these cannot compensate for the massive volumes of oil, gas, and container traffic that traditionally pass through the Strait of Hormuz. For instance, while Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline can move around 7 million bpd and the UAE's Habshan–Fujairah pipeline, which is being expanded to 3 million bpd, offers some bypass capacity, these combined efforts still fall short of the strait's normal flow of roughly 20 million barrels per day. LNG exports from Qatar are particularly vulnerable, as there is no existing pipeline network capable of rerouting these volumes at anything near their usual rate, meaning virtually all seaborne Qatari LNG still relies on the strait.
Qatar views the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and freedom of navigation as critical. The country has been actively involved in mediating negotiations between Washington and Tehran, highlighting that the region's importance extends beyond oil to include petrochemicals, fertilizer (such as urea), and helium, all of which are essential for global industries. The ongoing disruption has led to soaring energy prices and triggered a global economic crisis, with a deal brokered by Qatar and Pakistan in June reportedly fraying over disputes regarding the strait's management.
The prolonged closure has hit Qatar's exports significantly harder than its imports, which have maintained stability through alternative routes like overland transport via Saudi Arabia and transshipments through Red Sea and Omani ports. However, these agile solutions for imports do not address the structural dependency on the Strait of Hormuz for bulk energy logistics. Experts like Salih Yilmaz, a senior energy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted that while oil has meaningful alternatives, LNG and container shipping are much harder to replicate, ensuring the strait's continued strategic importance.
