Trump Threatens Iran Strike As Oil Rises, Qatari LNG Halted

Brent crude climbed 1.17 percent to $91.80 a barrel on Thursday after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran in response to a missile attack on a US military base, deepening a crisis that has already cut off Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The threat of direct American military action pushed oil higher as traders priced in the risk of a wider confrontation in a region that supplies a large share of the world's crude and gas. The most immediate consequence for Doha is Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world's traded oil passes and through which every Qatari LNG cargo must sail. With the strait shut, Qatari LNG shipments have been halted, and QatarEnergy has declared force majeure on its deliveries, a legal step that suspends contractual obligations when events beyond a company's control make performance impossible. Qatar is one of the world's largest LNG exporters, shipping around 77 million tonnes a year from Ras Laffan under long-term contracts with buyers in Asia and Europe, and it has no alternative export route that bypasses Hormuz. To protect its customers during the disruption, QatarEnergy has secured 33 cargoes of US LNG as replacement supply, drawing on American export capacity that is not exposed to the Gulf chokepoint. The move limits the damage to buyers but underlines how much global gas security depends on free navigation through Hormuz. Markets are now watching whether Washington follows through on Trump's threat, how Tehran responds, and how long the strait remains closed, since a prolonged shutdown would tighten both oil and gas markets well beyond the Gulf.