US-Iran war as it happened: Trump gives Iran 48 hours to open Strait of Hormuz; Iran threatens to destroy energy, oil infrastructure; Israel strikes bridges in southern Lebanon

Global liquefied natural gas exports have declined to a six-month low, erasing recent supply additions from the US and elsewhere as the conflict in the Middle East throttles flows.

The 10-day moving average for LNG shipments has fallen about 20 per cent from the start of the month to 1.1 million tonnes, the lowest since September, according to Bloomberg analysis of ship-tracking data on Kpler.

The drop is primarily from Qatar – and to a lesser extent the United Arab Emirates, the data shows. Both nations need to ship fuel through the Strait of Hormuz to reach customers in Asia and Europe.

The US-Israeli war in Iran has spiralled into a regional conflict that has upended the global LNG market. Qatar was forced to shut its LNG export plant in Ras Laffan – the biggest in the world – earlier in the month after Iranian strikes. A further attack last week damaged the facility, and it will take years for two of the plant’s 14 production trains to be repaired.

LNG output around the world had been rising steadily over the past year, thanks primarily to new projects in the US and Canada. This is now being offset by the loss of Qatari LNG and the effective closure of Hormuz – a key waterway for about a fifth of global LNG supply.

Bloomberg

Australia is negotiating with Japan, China and other regional powers to ensure critical fuel supplies remain open, with gas shipments from the Middle East to Asia set to run out within days, raising the prospect of the Albanese government imposing price caps or export restrictions on liquefied natural gas.

Shipments of LNG from Qatari gas fields have stopped, with no sign of when they might resume. Those ships will unload their cargoes in 10 days’ time.

The Persian Gulf nation produces about a fifth of the world’s LNG, but was forced to shut down exports after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz and its largest plant was badly damaged in a missile attack last week.

International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol has warned that the world faces the worst oil market crisis in history, issuing a call for workers to stay home, motorists to drive more slowly and travellers to cut back on flights, to preserve fuel.

Australia imports about 80 per cent of its liquid fuels, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would use Australia’s gas exports as leverage to ensure Asian nations maintained their exports to the country.

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The world’s energy watchdog fears the depth of the fuel crisis isn’t being recognised by global leaders, and oil is not the only commodity that will be hit during the war in the Middle East.

International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said his fears had grown by the end of last week.

“Some of the vital arteries of the global economy, such as petrochemicals, such as fertilisers, such as sulfur, such as helium – their trade is all interrupted, which would have serious consequences for the global economy, which is the reason I decided to make statements,” he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

Birol said Australia’s supply of oil – about 38 days’ worth – was a “solid number”, and successive governments had failed to reach the agency’s recommended 90-day stock level.

“I know from this very government that they are doing their best to increase those levels,” he said.

“I very much hope that after this very event, there are some positive steps in that direction, but let’s [not] forget that Australia also makes a major contribution to regional energy security,” he said, referring to Australia’s liquified natural gas exports.

The Israeli military says it has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran, Reuters reports.

People on the ground have reported a series of powerful explosions across the city’s central, southern and eastern areas, and Iranian air defence systems have been activated, according to Al Jazeera.

With Reuters