Qatar is Suffering
Qatar Built Its Fortune on Gas. The Iran War Exposed the Risk.
Qatar, a tiny Gulf state with a relatively small population, became one of the richest countries on earth per capita. The foundation of that wealth was simple: liquefied natural gas.
Qatar sits on one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, a massive field it shares with Iran. The reserves are enormous - reportedly more than 20 times larger than Israel’s gas reserves by comparison.
But geography created a challenge.
Qatar is not especially close to many of the countries that buy its gas. Unlike pipeline exporters that can pump energy directly into neighboring markets, Qatar had to build an entirely different system.
The answer was LNG — liquefied natural gas.
That process requires cooling gas to extremely low temperatures so it can be transported by ship. To make that work, Qatar spent tens of billions of dollars building massive liquefaction plants, export terminals, and shipping infrastructure.
It worked
.
Qatar transformed itself into a global gas superpower (and one of the world’s biggest exporters of terrorism & propaganda, but that’s for a separate newsletter)
Today, more than 75% of government revenue comes from gas exports, with oil making up a smaller share. LNG became the engine behind Qatar’s wealth, geopolitical influence, and long-term strategy.
Then the war with Iran changed everything.
