An explosion at the Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub, killed 13 people and injured at least 66.
On the 21st (local time), foreign media including the Associated Press reported, citing the Qatar Interior Ministry, that an internal explosion occurred at a plant within the Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The Qatar Interior Ministry said, "Following a technical incident, an internal explosion occurred at one of the plants in the Ras Laffan Industrial City," adding, "Civil defense is working at the scene."
State-owned energy corporations QatarEnergy said employees were restarting the export terminal that night when an explosion and fire occurred at the Barzan gas supply facility within the Ras Laffan Industrial City. QatarEnergy said, "The incident occurred during the start-up of operations in the Ras Laffan Industrial City."
Saad Al Kaabi, Qatar Minister of Energy, held a press conference on the 22nd and said, "I bring tragic news we had hoped would never happen. Thirteen workers of Indian and Pakistani nationality sadly lost their lives," adding, "Sixty-six people were injured and are receiving medical care, but fortunately their lives are not in danger."
Qatari authorities initially said the number of injured was small, but the casualty toll later rose sharply. Agence France-Presse reported that flames and columns of smoke were seen as far as 20 kilometers south of the Ras Laffan Industrial City. Minister Al Kaabi said of the cause, "This is simply an accident, not sabotage or a hostile act."
The incident in Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG producers, has raised concerns it could affect the global energy market. However, Minister Al Kaabi said, "We have sufficient gas for domestic use," adding, "This incident will have no impact whatsoever on our gas exports to the world."
Ras Laffan Industrial City is the world's largest LNG hub, importing LNG produced from nearby offshore gas fields, liquefying it, and exporting it to countries around the world. Covering 295 square kilometers, it clusters gas and oil infrastructure such as LNG processing facilities, storage, condensate separation facilities, and refineries.
The Barzan plant where the accident occurred can produce about 1.4 billion standard cubic feet (SCF) per day of sales gas. Qatar has mainly used this gas for its own power generation and to operate seawater desalination plants in the Arabian Peninsula's desert regions.
The explosion appears to have occurred during efforts to restart facilities at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, which had been shut down by Iranian attacks. Amid the war between the United States and Iran that began in late February, the Ras Laffan Industrial City suffered major damage from successive Iranian drone strikes and halted operations.
QatarEnergy at the time declared "force majeure," saying it could no longer fulfill existing LNG contracts. Due to Iran's attacks, Qatar's overall LNG export capacity centered on the Ras Laffan Industrial City fell by 17%, and it was expected to take 3 to 5 years to restore the destroyed facilities.
Qatar is the world's third-largest LNG exporter. Ras Laffan Industrial City, known as Qatar's "LNG heart," has accounted for about 20% of global LNG supply, and 90% of the LNG produced there is known to head to the Asian market.
According to Korea International Trade Association statistics, Korea imported 6.97 million tons of LNG from Qatar last year. That accounts for 14.9% of the total LNG imports of 46.72 million tons. Qatar is Korea's third-largest LNG supplier after Australia (31.4%) and Malaysia (16.1%).