Eighteen unaccounted for, 54 hurt in blast at Qatari natural gas facility

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A huge blast at a Qatar gas hub that sent flames shooting into the night sky has injured 54 people, authorities said Monday as they searched for 18 others missing.

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A “technical incident” caused the explosion late on Sunday in the Gulf emirate’s Ras Laffan industrial zone, the interior ministry said.

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The blast took place at a unit supplying gas to local firms and reverberated across the capital Doha.

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An AFP journalist 20 kilometres (12 miles) away saw bright orange flames and a plume of smoke rising from the area, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas hub.

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Qatar’s state-owned energy company said the blast occurred “during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at Barzan local gas supply facility”.

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Late Sunday, QatarEnergy said the fire had been brought under control after emergency response teams were deployed.

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Ras Laffan had already been badly damaged in the US-Iran war as Iranian strikes targeted Gulf energy infrastructure and forced Qatar to halt gas production.

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The interior ministry described Sunday’s incident as an “internal explosion”, adding in a later statement that a “technical malfunction” was to blame.

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At the time of the explosion, AFP journalists in the Qatari capital heard the blast at the facility on the country’s northern coast, 64 kilometres (40 miles) to the north.

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Leading gas producer –

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“A total of 54 people were injured in the incident,” the ministry posted on X on Monday, adding that authorities were searching for 18 missing people.

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According to QatarEnergy, the Barzan facility could previously provide 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day to local power generation and water desalination plants as well as local industries.

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In addition, Barzan has the production capacity to supply ethane, condensate, LPG and sulphur for local markets and export.

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ExxonMobil holds a seven percent share of the Barzan plant, with the Qatari state firm holding the remaining 93 percent, according to the US oil and gas giant’s website.

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Qatar, which shares the massive South Pars gas field with Iran, is one of the world’s leading liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia.

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But the tiny Gulf state ceased LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone strikes hit key facilities.

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Further damage from attacks on March 18 was expected to cut LNG export capacity by 17 percent and take three to five years to repair, Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said at the time.

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Major importers including China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium were among nations most likely to be affected, the energy minister said in March.

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AFP

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