Cheong Wa Dae on the 25th addressed Qatar declaring "force majeure" on part of its long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts with major countries including Korea, saying it is "already responding with the possibility of a disruption to Qatari imports in mind," and that it will "closely monitor the situation on the Qatari side and take necessary measures."
A Cheong Wa Dae official, regarding Qatar's declaration that it cannot fulfill the contract, said, "Nothing has been officially decided so far," but noted that authorities are responding by anticipating potential import disruptions stemming from the Middle East war. The official also said, "Even if imports of Qatari volumes are halted, non-Middle Eastern volumes are being brought in smoothly," adding, "Stable supply is possible through the end of the year."
According to Reuters and the Arab outlet Al Jazeera, QatarEnergy, the Qatari state-owned energy corporation, said on the 24th (local time) that production facilities were destroyed by Iran's missile attack and that it would temporarily suspend performance of its long-term LNG supply contracts with Korea, Italy, Belgium and China. Chief Executive Saad Al-Kaabi told Reuters that 17% of LNG export capacity was damaged and that restoration alone would take three to five years.
Korea imports 9 million to 10 million tons of LNG annually from Qatar. However, as a result of significantly increasing volumes from the United States and Australia by diversifying the LNG supply chain, the share of Qatari LNG in Korea's imported LNG stands at around 15%. According to Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), the country from which Korea imported the most LNG last year was Australia (14.68 million tons), accounting for 31.42% of total imports. Qatar (6.97 million tons · 14.91%) ranks third.