LNG terminals behind the Strait of HormuzPreview
Estimated liquefaction output (MTPA) from satellite observation, by train — for the Qatar & UAE terminals behind the Strait of Hormuz.
Sentinel-2 + Landsat · True color + SWIR · Last pass processed: 2026-07-16
Behind the Strait of Hormuz
Imagery: modified Copernicus Sentinel-2 data · Landsat imagery courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Qatar halted LNG production in early March 2026 after the Hormuz closure, and mid-March strikes sidelined two of its 14 trains for multi-year repair. The restart peaked in early July — both Qatari complexes read four active trains, near 59% of the 77 MTPA nameplate — but the mid-July passes show a pull-back: two trains lit at each complex, Ras Laffan ~12.5 MTPA (~34%) and Qatar LNG ~15.6 MTPA (~38%), about 28 MTPA together (~36%). The thermal pairs above show it — Ras Laffan steps down from four lit trains to two between the 12 and 15 July passes, while Qatar LNG holds two. Across the water, the UAE's Das Island has ramped to ~3.4 MTPA (~57%).
Full note: Ras Laffan LNG & Qatar LNG — the mid-July pull-back →
| Facility | Country | Trains | Nameplate | Latest operating | Latest util. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Das Island LNG Terminal | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 6 | 3.4 | 57% |
| Qatar LNG | Qatar | 7 | 40.8 | 15.6 | 38% |
| Ras Laffan LNG | Qatar | 7 | 36.3 | 12.5 | 34% |
How we read this
Sentinel-2 MSI · True color + SWIR · 2017 → present
Every usable Copernicus Sentinel-2 pass over Qatar and the UAE is processed for two views of each LNG terminal: true color, and SWIR thermal. A liquefaction train that is producing runs hot — its process heat reads from orbit — and our proprietary detection model, trained on years of labeled passes, scores each train on or off, pass by pass, cloud permitting.
Train status becomes output: each active train contributes its share of the facility's nameplate capacity, giving an estimated operating rate in MTPA for Ras Laffan, Qatar LNG and Das Island — the terminals whose LNG exports transit the Strait of Hormuz. The series runs back to 2017, one point per usable pass, typically every few days.
The read is the gap between announced and observed: guidance states a capacity figure; the imagery shows how many trains are actually lit. Estimates are observation-only — no AIS, no press releases baked in.