Morgan Stanley: Qatar LNG shutdown may eliminate this year's global oversupply, putting upward pressure on gas prices

According to Morgan Stanley’s analysis, the shutdown of Qatar, the world’s leading liquefied natural gas exporter, is likely to eliminate most of the expected supply surplus this year. In a report dated March 8, analysts including Devin McDermott stated that if Qatar’s LNG production remains offline for more than a month, “it will soon lead to a supply shortage.” The world’s largest LNG plant, Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility, was shut down unprecedentedly last week, though the facility was not damaged. Morgan Stanley had predicted before the Iran war outbreak that, with new projects coming online in the U.S. and elsewhere, the global LNG market would face a surplus of up to 6 million tons by 2026. The bank stated that if Qatar does not clarify a recovery plan within about a week, natural gas prices could quickly rise to $30 per million British thermal units or higher.