Qatar's 'LNG Heart' Ras Laffan Explodes, Leaving 13 Dead and At Least 66 Injured

An "internal accident" explosion at Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub, has killed 13 people and injured at least 66 others.

On Sunday, June 21 (local time), foreign media, including the Associated Press, reported the incident, citing Qatar's Ministry of Interior.

The ministry stated, "An internal explosion occurred in one of the factories in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area following a technical incident," adding, "Civil defense teams have begun handling the incident."

State-run energy company QatarEnergy explained that the explosion and fire occurred at the Barzan gas supply facility within the Ras Laffan Industrial City on Sunday night as workers were trying to restart the export terminal.

QatarEnergy added, "The incident occurred during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City."

Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs, held a press conference on Monday, June 22, and announced that 13 people were killed and 66 were injured in the blast.

Minister al-Kaabi told reporters, "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 stated that only a small number of people were injured, but later released much higher casualty figures.

AFP reported seeing flames and a column of smoke from 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Regarding the cause of the accident, Minister al-Kaabi explained, "This is simply an accident, not sabotage or an act of a hostile nature."

The accident in Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG producers, is expected to potentially cause disruption in global energy markets.

However, Minister al-Kaabi asserted, "We have sufficient gas for domestic use.

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, where LNG produced from nearby offshore gas fields is brought in, liquefied, and exported globally.

Spanning an area of 295 square kilometers, the Ras Laffan Industrial City houses not only LNG processing facilities but also various gas and oil-related infrastructure, including LNG storage facilities, condensate splitters, and refineries.

The Barzan plant, where the accident occurred, has the capacity to produce approximately 1.4 billion standard cubic feet (SCF) of sales gas per day.

Qatar has primarily used this gas for local electricity generation and to power water desalination plants in the desert reaches of the Arabian Peninsula.

The explosion appears to have occurred during the process of restarting facilities at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, which had been shut down due to Iranian attacks.

Amid the war between the United States and Iran that began in late February, the Ras Laffan Industrial City suffered heavy damage from successive Iranian drone strikes, forcing a halt in operations.

Consequently, state-run QatarEnergy declared force majeure, stating that it could no longer fulfill its existing LNG contracts.

At the time, QatarEnergy projected that the Iranian attacks would reduce Qatar's overall LNG export capacity by 17 percent, centered around the Ras Laffan Industrial City, and that repairing the destroyed facilities would take three to five years.

Qatar is the world's third-largest LNG exporter.

The Ras Laffan Industrial City, serving as Qatar's "LNG heart," has accounted for approximately 20 percent of the global LNG supply.

It is known that 90 percent of the LNG produced here is destined for Asian markets.

According to statistics from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), South Korea imported a total of 6.97 million tons of LNG from Qatar last year, accounting for 14.9 percent of its total LNG imports (46.72 million tons).

This makes Qatar South Korea's third-largest source of LNG, following Australia (31.4%) and Malaysia (16.1%).

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.