Escape from the Red Sea: Qatar stops liquefied gas shipments due to Houthi attacks

The crisis in the Red Sea is also beginning to have a direct impact on energy supplies. At least five liquefied gas ships from Qatar - three of them loaded with LNG bound for Europe - have stopped their journey. And dozens of tankers carrying oil and fuel have also stopped on the high seas or are changing course to avoid passage through an area that is becoming increasingly risky.

A fluid situation, which in the long run threatens to undermine the availability of fuels and inflame prices, but which for the time being is raising a very lukewarm reaction on the markets. Gas in particular is even starting the week with a drop of about 5%, trading just above EUR 30 per Megawatt-hour at Ttf, close to the lowest since August. Crude oil prices, which have been very volatile in recent days, started the session on an upward trend and then turned negative: Brent crude oil lost about half a percentage point, around 77 dollars per barrel.

Besides geopolitics, other influencing factors are at play, which often prevail in the market. On the one hand there are the policies of central banks, which investors nevertheless continue to see as oriented towards lowering interest rates. On the other hand, the fundamentals are reassuring: for gas in particular, demand remains moderate (despite the intense cold) and stocks in both Europe and Asia are very high for this time of year.

The situation in the Red Sea, however, is far from reassuring. To the repeated attacks of the Houthi against passing ships - which have already caused container traffic to collapse - has been added the harsh military reaction of the United States and Great Britain, which in order to stop the Shiite guerrillas have hit targets in Yemeni territory several times. An escalation that alone could justify an increase in commodity prices, through what is called a 'geopolitical premium'.

The flight of oil and LNG tankers from the region - which started late mainly for contractual reasons - is linked to the recent raids against the Houthis. The Combined Marine Force (Cfm), to which the Anglo-American forces belong, on Friday 12 ordered all ships to "keep well away from Bab al-Mandab", the strait that "closes" the southern part of the Red Sea, connecting it to the Gulf of Aden. The appeal was also issued through Intertanko, an association of independent tanker owners, and was not taken lightly.