LNG Tanker at the North Field, which lies north-east off the Qatar peninsula, is the biggest natural gasfield in the world. Image Via Qatargas
By Stephen Stapczynski and Weilun Soon (Bloomberg) A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar appears to have transited the Strait of Hormuz, marking the country’s first export out of the region since the Iran war began.
The Al Kharaitiyat, which loaded at the Ras Laffan export plant earlier this month, exited the strait and is in the Gulf of Oman, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The vessel lists Pakistan as its next destination, according to the data.
The ship appears to have navigated the Tehran-approved northern route that hugs the Iranian coast through the strait, the data showed.
The effective closure of the waterway has choked off global LNG supplies, sending prices higher and causing shortages across Asia. Vessels continue to face security threats as both Iran and the US have implemented de facto blockades.
While the Al Kharaitiyat’s journey offers tentative signs that more LNG flows could resume, it’s a far cry from prewar levels of roughly three shipments a day out of the Persian Gulf. At least two LNG tankers that loaded from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s export plant have traversed the strait since the conflict began, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.
The move comes after Qatar made several previous attempts to send shipments through Hormuz, but eventually the tankers turned around. The country, which produced almost a fifth of global LNG supply last year, hasn’t been able to move any LNG out of the Persian Gulf since the conflict began at the end of February.
Qatar’s Nakilat owns the Al Kharaitiyat, according to ship database Equasis. Nakilat and QatarEnergy did not respond to a request for comment.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
Updated: May 27, 2026 (Originally published May 10, 2026)
This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.
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Another tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has exited the Strait of Hormuz, adding to a recent uptick in energy flows through the vital waterway.
Japan — one of Asia’s biggest importers of energy from the Middle East — flagged the impending arrival of the first Persian Gulf oil shipment to transit the contested Strait of Hormuz since the Iran war began.
Full oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz will not return before the first or second quarter of 2027, even if the Middle East conflict ended now, the head of the United Arab Emirates' state oil firm ADNOC said.
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