Gulf hydrocarbon export disruption.
prob 0.38
severity 4.0 / 5 · revision 2026-05-08watch · 10 Gulf and Red Sea economies · oil + LNG exports$ shortage country get QAT > stress_index: 0.30 STABLE > 1 events · 1 scenarios > refreshed 2026-05-17
BRENT $105.4/b ▼ TTF €81.97/MWh ▲ OPEC_ORB $108.8/b ● SPR_US 286.6 Mb ▼ FAO_FFPI 133.3 ▲
The v3.2 stress index is a six-axis composite of energy and food exposure, geopolitical pressure, fiscal headroom, demography and supply concentration, normalised to a 0–1 scale.
Qatar is one of the world's largest LNG exporters, drawing on the vast North Field, and a significant crude producer. Its hydrocarbon wealth is immense, but with negligible agriculture it imports nearly all of its food — a dependence it moved to harden after the 2017 regional blockade. Its LNG exports transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar has no natural freshwater bodies and relies almost entirely on desalination.
No major lake or reservoir
| STOCK TYPE | RESERVE | DAYS COVER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas · North Field productionQatar exports LNG at vast scale from the North Field, with capacity still expanding. | world-leading | — | STABLE |
| Crude and products · domesticCrude production comfortably exceeds the small domestic market. | large surplus | 40days | STABLE |
| Food · strategic reserve and self-sufficiency driveAfter the 2017 blockade Qatar built food reserves and domestic dairy to harden import reliance. | expanding | 90days | WATCH |
$ curl -s https://api.shortage.life/v1/countries/QAT | jq '.stress' > 0.30