Qatar's LNG restart, one train at a time

Qatar moves roughly 77 MTPA of LNG from two complexes behind the Strait of Hormuz — Ras Laffan (36.3 MTPA, 7 trains) and Qatar LNG (40.8 MTPA, 7 trains). Production halted in early March 2026 after the Hormuz closure, and mid-March strikes sidelined two of the trains for multi-year repair. QatarEnergy has since guided buyers to a staged restart: about 50% of capacity within a month of safe passage, around 80% within two.

The 17 June passes show the restart is real — and uneven. Ras Laffan now reads three trains active, all of them smaller units; Qatar LNG reads one. The large trains sidelined in March stay cold.

Announced vs. observed

The guidance points to half-capacity within weeks. As of mid-June the count is climbing but still short: Ras Laffan reads three lit trains, Qatar LNG one. Estimated output backs it up — Ras Laffan around 11.3 MTPA and Qatar LNG around 7.8 MTPA, together near 19 MTPA, roughly 25% of the 77 MTPA Qatari nameplate. Across the water, the UAE's Das Island (6 MTPA, 3 trains) reads about 1.7 MTPA — near 28%, with one train active on its 14 June pass.

The gap between the announced half-capacity and the observed ~25% is the read. It is not a one-off snapshot: each cloud-free pass moves the count, and the next confirmation is commercial — tanker loadings at Ras Laffan and a step up in QatarEnergy's nominations.

Track it live, train by train, on the LNG terminals view.

Imagery: modified Copernicus Sentinel-2 data.