Qatar deal to buy U.S. natural gas shows how Iran war has redrawn global energy markets

Before the Iran war, Qatar was one of the biggest natural gas exporters in the world. After only eight months, the Gulf state is now buying supplies from its principal competitor — the United States. QatarEnergy struck a deal Thursday with U.S. exporter Cheniere Energy to buy 4 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually through 2054. The purchase price is indexed to the U.S. Henry Hub price plus a fixed fee. Deliveries are expected to begin in the 2030s. "We look forward to reliably supplying QatarEnergy from both Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi into the second half of this century," Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco said in a statement. The gas that Doha will buy is less than 1% of the global LNG trade of more than 400 milion metric tons. But "in terms of an individual deal, this is about as big as you see in the U.S," said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG at Rapidan Energy in Houston.The deal signals how the Iran war is reshaping global energy markets to the benefit of U.S. companies, cementing the dominance of American LNG exporters. Shares of Cheniere and Venture Global, the other independent U.S. player, have gained 26% and 40%, respectively, since the start o...