Qatar Energy Chief Says Bessent ‘Wrong’ About Hormuz Future

By Kevin Whitelaw and Annmarie Hordern

Sep 20, 2026 (Bloomberg) —Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is “wrong” when he said that the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be worthless in two years. 

“I mean, maybe this is his view. I think this is completely wrong,” he said, speaking Sunday at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York City. 

Bessent had made the remark earlier this month, saying that the crucial waterway — a crunchpoint for the global oil trade that has been largely blocked by the Iran war — will become less important as countries work on pipelines to bypass it.

“In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be like a worthless piece of water,” Bessent said on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting on Sept. 1.

Al-Kaabi, who is also the chief executive officer of QatarEnergy, said that Hormuz is a key transit venue for all kinds of trade beyond oil and gas.

“If you look at what the trade that we have through the Hormuz Strait, it cannot be obsolete,” he said. “If this is brought up again, I can repeat it to anybody that I don’t think this is ever going to be obsolete.”

Sheikh Faisal Al-Thani, Qatar’s minister of commerce and industry, echoed the comments by the energy minister, saying that the waterway will never be irrelevant.

“The reality of things is that 90% of all shipping happens through the sea,” he said. “It’s a question of diversification.”

Al-Kaabi also said that Qatar isn’t currently planning to build new pipelines to bypass Hormuz.

“We have decided not to do pipelines, and I think the decision in Qatar was based on commercial and technical, and we are only going to be using the straits,” he said.

That decision comes against the backdrop of a regional infrastructure push, with Saudi Arabia accelerating investment in Red Sea ports and the United Arab Emirates pursuing a multibillion-dollar “Zero Hormuz” strategy to develop routes that go around the crucial waterway.

Read More: New UAE Pipeline Bypassing Hormuz Now 50% Complete, ADNOC CEO Says

The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.

© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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