13 Dead, Dozens Injured After Explosion During Restart at Qatar’s Giant Ras Laffan LNG Site

Thirteen people died and dozens more were injured following an explosion at Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex, which occurred as workers were restarting operations that had been halted after an Iranian attack in March.

Authorities described the incident as a ‘technical accident’ that took place at the Barzan local gas supply facility on Sunday evening.

Qatar, home to a major U.S. military base, has faced repeated Iranian missile and drone strikes throughout the Iran war, a conflict that trapped roughly 20% of the world’s LNG supply in the Gulf before some shipments recently resumed.

Qatar’s Energy Ministry said in a statement that 13 people had been killed and 66 injured. It added that the plant’s export capacity remained unaffected and that there was no risk to the environment.

QatarEnergy has not disclosed exactly where in the plant the blast occurred or how extensive the damage is, but Saad al-Kaabi, the company’s CEO and Qatar’s energy minister, said an investigation into the incident has been launched.

The explosion rattled windows and was felt across central Doha, alarming residents more than 70 kilometres from Ras Laffan.

Ramp-Up Challenges

The incident underscores the difficulties facing Gulf producers as they work to restart oil and gas facilities shut down during the Iran war.

Qatar has been among the countries hit hardest by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, since it has no alternative routes through which to export its LNG.

Restarting LNG operations is an especially delicate process, requiring a deliberately slow cooldown to prevent thermal shock. LNG trains cannot all be restarted at once and must instead be brought back online in sequence.

In the liquefaction process — which converts gas into liquid form by cooling it to roughly minus 162°C (minus 260°F) — the cooldown phase is the most critical step.

The facility sits within Ras Laffan Industrial City, QatarEnergy’s hub for LNG production and export, which has an annual production capacity of 77 million metric tons.

An Iranian missile strike in March hit two of the complex’s key gas-processing units, cutting roughly 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity — damage that QatarEnergy’s CEO told Reuters would take three to five years to repair.

The war also compelled the company to evacuate about 10,000 workers from its offshore rigs and onshore processing plants. The company reported no injuries during the March missile strike.