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Qatar has sent its first shipment of liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz since one of its tankers was attacked in the waterway more than three weeks ago.
The Al Areesh, which had been idling in the Persian Gulf since picking up a shipment from the Ras Laffan export facility in early July, sailed through Hormuz with its transponder turned on and was entering the Gulf of Oman on Thursday morning local time, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The tanker is signaling Pakistan as its next destination. The South Asian nation has mediated peace talks between the US and Iran and previously shunned more expensive spot LNG cargoes in the expectation that supplies from Qatar would resume. However, more recently it has made plans to procure immediate shipments for August.
The latest move indicates that QatarEnergy may be resuming deliveries through the strait after pausing journeys when the Al Rekayyat gas carrier was struck on July 7. An increase in flows through Hormuz may also allow the company to ramp up production at the world's largest LNG plant — a plan that was placed on hold following the attack.
Neither QatarEnergy nor Seapeak LLC, the company that owns the tanker, responded to a request for comment.
More than a dozen tankers are currently idling near Ras Laffan, according to the ship-tracking data, indicating that they may be preparing to pick up shipments from the Qatari plant. An empty LNG carrier owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.'s shipping arm also appeared in the Gulf on Wednesday after traversing Hormuz in the opposite direction, with its location broadcaster turned off.
Still, a resumption in strikes by the US and Iran is deepening concerns that LNG flows through Hormuz will remain compromised, leaving the global market tight. Attacks took a brief pause in an effort to advance talks to end the months-long conflict, but that lull ended Tuesday night when Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles at an American base in Jordan. In response, the US launched a new wave of strikes on Thursday local time.
