Indian embassy denies claims of Indian deaths in Qatar amid several explosions in Doha as Middle East conflict rages

The Indian embassy has denied claims of any Indian deaths in Qatar. This comes amid several explosions were heard on Monday in the Doha as Gulf countries reported fresh attacks while Iran continued its retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, according to AFP.

Doha has faced repeated waves of Iranian drones and missiles since Tehran launched a broad retaliation campaign across the Gulf following US and Israeli attacks on the Iran. Meanwhile, Qatar Ministry of Defence said on Monday that its forces had successfully intercepted a missile attack.

“This is to clarify that Embassy of India, Qatar has not made such announcement. We do not have any report of Indian deaths in Qatar in the ongoing conflict so far. We hope and pray for safety of everyone,” the embassy responded to a now-deleted post.

Qatar's LNG expansion plan postponed until at least 2027

Meanwhile, QatarEnergy has postponed the start of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion project until at least 2027 following a drone attack last week that forced the unprecedented shutdown of its Ras Laffan Industrial City facility.

According to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, production from the North Field East development is now expected to aim for its first export early next year, provided the outage at Ras Laffan lasts no longer than a month. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the details are not public.

However, if the closure continues for longer as tensions rise in the Persian Gulf, the start of production could be pushed back even further, they added.

The expansion is part of Qatar’s contribution to a record surge in new global LNG supply expected through the remainder of the decade. A delay at the North Field East facility, which has an annual capacity of about 32 million tonnes, could also postpone the anticipated oversupply in the LNG market.

Earlier, Qatar had already moved the project’s timeline to the end of this year in early February. The exact reason for that delay was unclear, though large-scale energy projects are often postponed close to commissioning to allow time to resolve technical or engineering issues.

Qatar’s energy minister Saad Al-Kaabi told the Financial Times last week that the expansion might face delays, but he did not provide a specific timeframe. The project forms part of the large wave of new LNG supply expected to enter the global market over the coming years.