Shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz, which carries 27 percent of the world’s seaborne oil trade and 20 percent of LNG, has been virtually halted, with oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia rerouting oil through alternative pipelines and Qatar halting LNG production.
Recommended Stories
4 item listend of list
Natural gas makes up about a quarter of global energy consumption, raising concerns about how much a disruption in LNG would affect those most dependent on gas.
What is LNG?
Natural gas forms from dissolved organic matter subjected to intense heat and pressure beneath the Earth’s surface over millions of years.
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to -162 degrees Celsius, known as cryogenic processing, shrinking it to 600th of its gaseous volume.
In its liquid state, LNG is colorless, odorless, and non-flammable, making it safe and efficient to transport over long distances.
creation and purification
Before liquefaction, the gas is purified through water-based solvents and molecular sieve beds to remove impurities including carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, water and mercury.
The heavier hydrocarbons are then separated from the methane and ethane through fractionation, and stored, used, or sold as a byproduct. The result is that the fuel is typically composed of 85 to 95 percent methane, with small amounts of ethane, propane, butane, and nitrogen.
storage and transportation
LNG is stored in large insulated tanks without the need for high-pressure infrastructure. It is then pumped onto double-hulled carriers and shipped to terminals around the world.
regasification
At its destination, the LNG is heated using seawater or a hot water bath until it vaporizes, before being transported through pipelines for consumption, a process known as regasification. It is sometimes blended with nitrogen or propane to ensure compatibility with local gas networks.
What is it used for?
Once the LNG is returned to a gaseous state at import terminals, it is spread through pipelines for use in homes, businesses, and industries around the world.
Residential uses include cooking, heating, and generating electricity. In many parts of the world, LNG also supports hot water systems in homes and heating for commercial buildings.
It is largely used to generate electricity, offering a low-carbon alternative to coal and oil.
In industry it is used for fertilizers, plastics, paints and medicines. It is also used in transportation to fuel heavy-duty vehicles and ships.
The Gulf countries export about half of the world’s traded urea – commonly used in fertilizers globally, making international agriculture highly sensitive to any blockage in the LNG shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The disruption has already forced fertilizer producers across the region to suspend or reduce operations, as natural gas is both the primary feedstock and fuel that powers the manufacturing process.
QatarEnergy’s decision to halt gas production after attacks on its LNG infrastructure brought the world’s largest urea plant to a standstill. In addition, the Omani port of Salalah on the Arabian Sea, which houses an ammonia storage terminal, has been closed. There was a drone attack on the port on March 11.
What are by-products?
While LNG is primarily valued as an energy source, the processing and liquefaction of natural gas yields a variety of by-products with industrial and medical applications.
The most notable by-product is helium, which is extracted during cryogenic processing in LNG facilities using distillation to separate helium concentrations from the gas.
Global helium production is estimated at about 180 million cubic meters annually. Disruptions at LNG facilities in Qatar mean that about 5.2 million cubic meters of helium is taken out of the market each month, about a third of global monthly production.
Helium is used primarily as a cooling agent for superconducting magnets in MRI and CT scanners, with the average MRI machine requiring approximately 1,700 liters of liquid helium, and some older MRIs require replenishment every two to three years.
Helium is also important to the data center industry, where it is used to remove heat from silicon, keeping semiconductor parts from being damaged.
The natural gas value chain generates petrochemical derivatives that also form feedstock for manufactured goods.
For example, ethane and propane are cracked to produce ethylene and propylene, which are ingredients used in plastics such as IV bags, syringes, and other medical-grade plastics.
Which countries supply LNG?
According to the International Gas Union (IGU) 2025 World LNG Report, about 411.24 million tonnes (mt) of LNG is expected to be traded in 2024.
The largest exporter of LNG is the United States, which exported a total of 88.4 million tonnes in 2024, followed by Australia (81 million tonnes), Qatar (77.2 million tonnes), Russia (33.5 million tonnes) and Malaysia (27.7 million tonnes).
Overall, the top five countries account for more than three-quarters of global supply.
Which countries import it?
China was the largest importer of LNG with imports of 78.6 million tonnes in 2024, followed by Japan (67.7 million tonnes), South Korea (47.1 million tonnes), India (26.1 million tonnes) and Taiwan (21.8 million tonnes). The top five importers account for about 59 percent of all global LNG imports in 2024.
South Asian nations such as Pakistan and Bangladesh are also at high risk from the current conflict.
Pakistan’s primary energy source is natural gas, which accounts for 28 percent of electricity generation for the country of more than 250 million people.
In Bangladesh, with a population of about 176 million, gas accounts for half of total electricity generation.
According to trade intelligence firm Kpler, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates supply about 99 percent of Pakistan’s LNG imports and 72 percent of Bangladesh’s.
At the beginning of the month, Pakistan introduced emergency measures to deal with the energy crisis, including moving to a four-day workweek for government employees and declaring spring holidays for schools from March 16 until the end of the month.
As a precaution, the Bangladeshi government has also reduced the gas supply. Bangladesh is seeking a loan of about $2 billion from international lenders to finance energy inputs and keep prices stable.
Some petroleum gas tankers bound for India have managed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz despite the conflict – at least one Pakistani tanker has also transited the strait. In India, where 5 percent of power generation comes from gas, they are now becoming more dependent on coal as the LNG disruption continues. India gets about half of its LNG from the Gulf.
An Indian government order on March 9 redirected natural gas and regasified LNG to priority sectors, impacting consumers and the petrochemical industry, according to S&P Global.
<a href