Some acts of war stay where they are committed. Others do not. They move through prices, ports, pipelines, shipping lanes, insurance, supply chains and fear. The bombing of major energy infrastructure belongs to that second category. When an LNG terminal is hit, when an oil rig burns, when a refinery erupts, the damage does not end at the fence line. It enters freight costs, electricity tariffs, food inflation, industrial output and household anxiety across continents. The family that never saw the war, never chose it and never profited from it still pays for it. That is why recent attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure cannot be dismissed as mere regional escalation. Reuters has reported serious damage to Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex, including a hit to roughly 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity for an estimated three to five years, with wider disruption across Gulf energy facilities and markets. This is not just a strike on a state. It is a strike on a system.
Author:
Siddhartha Kumar, Partner