54 people have been injured, and 18 are still missing after an explosion tore through Qatar's key liquefied natural gas processing site of Ras Laffan Sunday
night. The explosion happened as the workers tried to resume operations there after Iran bombed it during the war. An incident during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility on Sunday evening, QatarEnergy said in a statement. Emergency response teams were deployed to contain the fire, which was now under control, it said. The scale of the damage remains unknown immediately after the blast, with officials initially saying only a few people had been hurt. But hours later, Qatar’s Interior Ministry offered the far-greater casualty figures. Qatar's Interior Ministry attributed the explosion to a "technical accident" and said there was no threat to public safety. The Barzan plant had a capacity of almost 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day, which Qatar used primarily for local electricity generation and to power its crucial water desalination plants in the desert reaches of the Arabian Peninsula. It also has the capacity to produce ethane, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and sulphur for domestic and export markets. The facility is located in Ras Laffan Industrial City, QatarEnergy's primary site for LNG production and export with a total production capacity of 77 million metric tons per annum via 14 trains. Qatar owns nearly all of the plant, with a small share also held by ExxonMobil. The blast at the Ras Laffan industrial area could cause further chaos in global energy markets, particularly as Qatar remains one of the world's top natural gas producers, which has already been reeling under severe supply disruptions and price volatility due to the US-Israel-Iran War. Notably, Qatar shut down its production after Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz meant it couldn't get shipments out to its clients. With Iran loosening its grip on the strait as negotiations continue over a permanent end to the war, Qatar began work to try to restart its export terminal, however, the work sparked an explosion. In March, an Iranian missile hit Ras Laffan, sparking a fire that caused "extensive" damage before it was extinguished, authorities said. India is the world's fourth-largest LNG importer and relies on Qatar for about 41% of its gas imports. In 2024/25, India imported over 27 million metric tons of LNG, with Qatar supplying 11.2 million tons, according to government data.
