European natural gas prices jumped by almost half in a single day on March 2, 2026, after QatarEnergy halted liquefied natural gas production at Ras Laffan following Iranian drone attacks. The front-month Dutch TTF contract — Europe's gas benchmark — reached about €47.9 per megawatt-hour that afternoon, a one-year high, and by mid-March it had roughly doubled from pre-war levels to above €60/MWh.
What Happened
Qatar is one of the world's two largest LNG exporters, and together with the UAE its LNG exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz — about a fifth of global LNG supply. After the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28, Iranian drones struck Qatari energy facilities, and on March 2 QatarEnergy stopped production at the Ras Laffan complex, which has about 77 million tonnes a year of liquefaction capacity. QatarEnergy subsequently declared force majeure on some long-term contracts. Benchmark Asian LNG prices rose almost 39% on the first day.
A further attack on Ras Laffan on March 18 damaged part of the facility; reports at the time put the loss at roughly 17% of capacity, with repairs expected to take years. Over the following weeks Asian spot LNG prices more than doubled as buyers in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere competed with Europe for flexible Atlantic cargoes.
Why Europe Was Exposed
Since losing most Russian pipeline gas in 2022, Europe has relied heavily on LNG, much of it from the United States and Qatar. Losing Qatari supply in late winter, when storage is seasonally low, forced European buyers to outbid Asia for US and other cargoes, which pushed TTF higher. Energy-intensive industries such as fertilizer and chemicals are the most sensitive to these prices.
Why It Matters for WTI Traders
- Same shock, two markets: the closure of Hormuz hit oil and LNG at the same time, so gas and crude moved together in the first weeks of the war.
- Oil-indexed LNG: many Asian long-term LNG contracts are priced off crude, linking LNG costs to Brent.
- Fuel switching: very high gas prices encourage some power and industrial users to burn oil products instead, adding to diesel and fuel-oil demand.
- US exports: US LNG and US crude exports both became more valuable as replacement supply, supporting US Gulf Coast prices.
US natural gas (Henry Hub) is a largely separate market because US LNG export capacity is fully used; it reacted far less than TTF. You can follow US natural gas alongside WTI in the energy futures panel on our homepage, and read how the oil side unfolded in our Hormuz risk premium explainer.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — Gas prices soar as QatarEnergy halts LNG production after Iran attacks (March 2, 2026)
- Forbes — Qatar halts LNG production, knocks 20% of global output as gas prices spike
- Kpler — Hormuz Strait disruptions trigger a price spike in TTF and Asian LNG
- Al Jazeera — QatarEnergy declares force majeure on some LNG contracts
- Wikipedia — 2026 Iran war fuel crisis