Iran has hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan natural gas terminal, which produces 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas. The March 18 strike wiped out 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity and repairs will take up to five years, state-owned QatarEnergy said. … The war caused an oil shock from the get-go. Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli attacks Feb. 28 by effectively closing off the Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for a fifth of the world’s oil, by threatening tankers trying to pass through. … Gulf oil exporters like Kuwait and Iraq cut production because there was nowhere for their oil to go without access to the strait. The loss of 20 million barrels of oil a day delivered what the International Energy Agency calls the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market
“Historically, oil price shocks like this have led to global recessions,’’ Knittel said.
The last line indicates we’re already headed there. Just how bad and how long remains to be seen.

