QatarEnergy extends LNG force majeure to November, cutting 29 Edison cargoes

September 1, 2026 at 01:53 PM2 min

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QatarEnergy extended force majeure on LNG deliveries to Europe and Asia until early November due to shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. Italian utility Edison said five more cargoes scheduled for late September to early November will not be delivered, bringing total cancelled shipments under its contract to 29 since April. The cancellations amount to about 3.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, though Edison has replaced 21 cargoes so far.

Key Facts

QatarEnergy extended force majeure on LNG deliveries to buyers in Europe and Asia until early November.
Edison said five more cargoes scheduled for late September to early November will not be delivered, bringing total cancelled shipments under its contract to 29 since April.
The 29 cancelled cargoes amount to about 3.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which Edison has replaced 21 cargoes, or about 2 billion cubic meters.
In the first six months of the conflict, Qatar exported only 18 LNG cargoes compared with 509 in the same period a year earlier, according to ICIS.
The loss of Qatari volumes has already cost the country about $24 billion in foregone revenue, according to estimates.

Force Majeure Extension

QatarEnergy first declared force majeure in March and has extended it monthly since then. The company has not set a date for restoring normal exports. Buyers in Pakistan received notices that cancellations will continue in October, and deliveries to Bangladesh remain at risk after September. The disruption stems from restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively cut Qatari gas off from the global market.

Market Impact

Other producers are partially filling the gap, with more LNG coming from the United States, Canada, Nigeria, and Malaysia. Some Asian countries are reducing gas consumption or switching to other fuels, while European buyers are drawing more heavily on storage. Before the conflict, about one-fifth of global LNG trade passed through the Strait of Hormuz. For Qatar, the problem is especially acute because LNG carriers are more specialized and harder to replace than oil tankers, leaving the world's largest LNG exporter with few alternative routes.

Outlook

Anne-Sophie Corbeau, senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, said the situation is likely to persist for quite a long time without a political settlement or a retreat by one of the key parties. She identified Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India as the most vulnerable because they depend heavily on Qatari and Emirati LNG and lack sufficient alternative long-term contracts. For Europe, the situation remains manageable for now thanks to gas from storage and alternative supplies. A prolonged deficit could delay the expected global LNG surplus, pushing the market's return to a more comfortable supply-demand balance from mid-2026 to as late as 2028.