Qatar Markets April LNG Slots at Zeebrugge Amid Extended Supply Outage

QatarEnergy is offering LNG regasification slots at Belgium’s Zeebrugge terminal for April, signaling its supply disruption could extend as Middle East conflict continues to impact exports.

(Reuters) — QatarEnergy has offered up five slots for unloading, storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal for the month of April, three industry sources said on March 18, indicating its facilities could remain shut down for a longer period.

Qatar, the world's second-largest exporter of LNG, announced a production halt at its 77 million ton-per-annum facility earlier this month and declared force majeure on LNG shipments because of the intensifying conflict in the Middle East.

QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Zeebrugge receives up to three LNG cargoes per month from Qatar, most of them under long-term supply contracts.

"It is correct that all customers have been informed on Monday that 5 LNG standard slots for unloading, storage and regasification operations at Fluxys Zeebrugge LNG Terminal have been made available for the month of April 2026 on the secondary market via the EMIX platform," Zeebrugge port operator, Fluxys, said in an emailed response to Reuters.

"Secondary market means that slots are made available by a terminal user with long term capacity at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal," Fluxys said, declining to disclose the name of the original user of the slots.

Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times earlier this month that it would take "weeks to months" to return to normal deliveries, "even if the war ended today".