Posted on 08/26/2026 8:02:59 AM PDT by Cronos
Six months of war between the US and Iran has decimated Qatar's natural gas economy. The Gulf state saw its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports crash by 96%. Shipping interruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the destruction of gas facilities have severely restricted its primary export income.
Qatar shed nearly $24bn in gas revenues, Reuters data reported. This severe revenue shortfall equals roughly five months of national income.
Qatar suffered the most severe impact, even though energy supply issues also paralysed neighbouring markets including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait.
The shipping data highlights a massive disruption. Doha dispatched only 18 export shipments over the past six months, compared to 509 cargoes during the identical timeframe last year, Reuters reported.
Qatar stood as a market leader before hostilities erupted. The country previously served about one-fifth of global daily LNG demand. Global gas markets remain exposed despite American LNG shipments compensating for a portion of the missing volume.
An Iranian drone and missile barrage struck the Ras Laffan facility just days into the hostilities, the Financial Times reported. The target operates as the largest LNG export terminal worldwide.
Another missile strike in March cut Qatari export capacity by an additional 17%. Total infrastructure repair work could span up to five years.
The financial strain forced swift austerity measures. The Financial Times reported that Qatar reduced government department budgets by up to 30% and slashed overseas aid by nearly 85%.
Tarik Yousef, a senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told the Financial Times that officials were "seriously contemplating" substantial further spending cuts next year if the crisis continues into the year's final quarter.
"The authorities have managed the crisis effectively, but the hit has been massive. They have been drawing on accumulated financial buffers to keep the economy going and maintain liquidity. But ultimately, that leaves a substantial hole in the budget." Yousef said.
The macroeconomic damage is severe. The International Monetary Fund forecast an 8.6% contraction for Qatar this year. This represents the steepest economic decline among the six Gulf states.
Sovereign Wealth Buffers
Doha maintains significant financial reserves to manage the fallout. Its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, manages assets worth $500bn.
The national population stands at roughly 3.2mn. This demographic translates to a relatively narrow domestic spending base.
A Qatari official told the Financial Times about the country's economic readiness.
"Qatar is well-equipped to navigate the economic situation in the region. Our resilience through past crises, including the GCC crisis [the embargo] and Covid-19, gives us the capacity to weather the current one without changing our long-term economic trajectory." the official said.
The geopolitical turmoil carries wider regional consequences. The ongoing conflict could alter the international investment strategies of Gulf sovereign wealth funds, which currently manage approximately $5trn in combined assets, the Financial Times reported
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This is a huge win
Qatar is not as quite as bad as Iran but they are the home to the Muslim Brotherhood and they are responsible for much of the problems in the Middle East
I’d like to see every one of the gulf states go broke.
But getting a AF1 capable plane from them made them A-OK!
Decimation is 20% not 96%.
Gosh…I hope Tucker Carlson doesn’t lose his home 😢
It’s hard to get choked up about this. Qatar is a huge source of funding for “soft” Islamism, e.g. CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Tucker may have to take a pay cut.
What do the greatly reduced gas shipments do to reserves in Europe for this coming winter?
That might partly (partly!) explain Russia’s increased aggressiveness toward Europe, such as the recent attempted drone attack on a cargo airliner in Germany.
The history is clear: Any time he sees weakness, Putin moves.
Per strict definition, 10%.
"deci"
Almost no one uses the word that way anymore, however.
Qatar has financial assets.
Those types of assets such as US stocks are fetching high prices.
The gas can be sold later on.
When a Wildberries warehouse gets hit by a Ukrainian drone, “it burns real good”, causing an unrecoverable financial loss.
Wildberries will have to simplify its product line, use about 60% of its warehouse space as fire break zones, and install better sprinkler systems.
Yes, Qatar is the major supporter of terrorism.
Not that they are terrorists themselves, but they mightily bribe the terrorists to keep them off their butt!
If they go bankrupt, there will be no money for terrorists!
“recent attempted drone attack on a cargo airliner in Germany”
WIKI
“Neutrality Act of 1935
“Roosevelt’s State Department had lobbied for embargo provisions that would allow the president to impose sanctions selectively. This was rejected by Congress.
“The 1935 act, passed by Congress on August 31, 1935, imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war. It also declared that American citizens traveling on warring ships traveled at their own risk.”
“The Neutrality Act of 1936, passed in February of that year, renewed the provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months. It also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents.
“However, this act did not cover “civil wars”, such as that in Spain, nor did it cover materials used in civilian life such as trucks and oil. U.S. companies such as Texaco, Standard Oil, Ford, General Motors, and Studebaker sold such items to the Nationalists under Francisco Franco on credit. By 1939, Spain owed these and other companies more than $100,000,000.”
“In January 1937, Congress passed a joint resolution outlawing the arms trade with Spain. The Neutrality Act of 1937 was passed in May and included the provisions of the earlier acts, this time without expiration date, and extended them to cover civil wars as well. Furthermore, U.S. ships were prohibited from transporting any passengers or articles to belligerents, and U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on ships of belligerent nations.
“In a concession to Roosevelt, a “cash-and-carry” provision that had been devised by his advisor Bernard Baruch was added: the president could permit the sale of materials and supplies to belligerents in Europe as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately with cash, with the argument that this would not draw the U.S. into the conflict. Roosevelt believed that cash-and-carry would aid France and Great Britain in the event of a war with Germany, since they were the only countries that controlled the seas and were able to take advantage of the provision. The cash-and-carry clause was set to expire after two years.”
“Japan invaded China in July 1937, starting the Second Sino-Japanese War. President Roosevelt, who supported the Chinese side, chose not to invoke the Neutrality Acts since the parties had not formally declared war. In so doing, he ensured that China’s efforts to defend itself would not be hindered by the legislation: China was dependent on arms imports and only Japan would have been able to take advantage of cash-and-carry. This outraged the isolationists in Congress who claimed that the spirit of the law was being undermined. Roosevelt stated that he would prohibit American ships from transporting arms to the belligerents, but he allowed British ships to transport American arms to China. Roosevelt gave his Quarantine Speech in October 1937, outlining a move away from neutrality and toward “quarantining” all aggressors.”
“Early in 1939, after Nazi Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia, Roosevelt lobbied Congress to have the cash-and-carry provision renewed. He was rebuffed, the provision lapsed, and the mandatory arms embargo remained in place.
“In September 1939, after Germany had invaded Poland, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. Roosevelt invoked the provisions of the Neutrality Act but came before Congress and lamented that the Neutrality Acts may give passive aid to an aggressor country. Congress was divided. Republican senator Gerald Nye wanted to broaden the embargo, and other isolationists like Vandenberg and Hiram Johnson vowed to fight “from hell to breakfast” Roosevelt’s desire to loosen the embargo. An “outstanding Republican leader” who supported helping nations under attack, however, told H. V. Kaltenborn that the embargo was futile because a neutral country like Italy could buy from the US and sell its own weapons to Germany, while US companies would relocate factories to Canada.
“Roosevelt prevailed over the isolationists, and on November 4, he signed the Neutrality Act of 1939 into law, allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations (Great Britain and France) on a cash-and-carry basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. Furthermore, the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 were repealed, U.S. citizens and ships were barred from entering war zones designated by the president, and the National Munitions Control Board (which had been created by the 1935 Neutrality Act) was charged with issuing licenses for all arms imports and exports. Arms trade without a license became a federal crime.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_Acts_of_the_1930s
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