News of more mysterious tanker attacks, this time in the Gulf of Oman, is having its predictable effect on oil prices. But there is another fuel at risk: liquefied natural gas. What might conflict, or the threat of it, mean for this fast-growing segment of the energy business?
The Middle East produces 29 percent of global LNG exports. The producers are mainly Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Exports from Qatar and the UAE must transit the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint near where the two tankers were hit. Oman's LNG facilities are farther south, close to where the Gulf of Oman opens into the Arabian Sea, so they are less exposed to attack. Exports from a fourth nation, Yemen, have already been targeted.
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