• Qatar produces LNG about 20% of global supply.
• If war continue, it will impact world’s GPD: minister.
• Minister forecasts crude prices may hit $150 per barrel.
  

Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks if the Iran conflict continues and drives oil to $150 a barrel, the country’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.

Qatar halted its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US attacks.

The country’s LNG production is equivalent to about 20% of global supply and plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.

“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure,” Kaabi told the FT.

“If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted,” he said.

“Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher. There will be shortages of some products and there will be a chain reaction of factories that cannot supply,” Kaabi said.

Kaabi said even if the war ended immediately it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal cycle of deliveries.

Analysts and economists have highlighted the potential impact of the war on economies globally.

Kaabi, who is also the CEO of Qatar Energy, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas producers, told FT that the company’s North Field expansion project would delay first production.

“It will delay all our expansion plans for sure,” Kaabi said. “If we come back in a week, perhaps the effect is minimal, if it’s a month or two, it is different.”

The project was scheduled to begin production in mid-2026.

He forecast that crude prices could hit $150 a barrel O/R in two to three weeks if ships and tankers were unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world’s most vital oil export route, connecting the biggest Gulf oil producers with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Kaabi also expects gas prices to rise to $40 per million British thermal units.

GENEVA: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said that killings such as the reported death of Ali Khamenei raise serious concerns under international human rights law.

Speaking to reporters, Turk said that from a human rights perspective, any form of killing is unacceptable.

“From a human rights perspective, any killing of anyone is not in the interest of international human rights law,” he said.

Strike on Girls’ School Raises Concern

Turk also addressed reports of a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, a city in southern Iran, during the first day of US and Israeli attacks.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, claimed that the attack killed around 150 students, although the figure has not been independently verified.

The UN rights chief stressed that schools are civilian institutions and should never be targeted during armed conflicts.

Call for Independent Investigation

Turk called for an impartial investigation into the incident to determine the circumstances surrounding the strike, including the type of weapon used and the timing of the attack.

He said responsibility now lies with those who carried out the strikes to ensure a transparent inquiry.

Meanwhile, US officials told media that military investigators are examining the possibility that American forces were responsible, though the investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion.

The incident has intensified international concern about civilian casualties and humanitarian law violations as the conflict in the region continues to escalate.

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department published additional FBI documents describing interviews with a woman who said President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her after she was introduced to him by Jeffrey Epstein.

The documents had not been made public under previous congressionally-mandated file releases related to the late convicted sex offender because they were mistakenly marked “duplicative,” the department said.

Democrats are investigating the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files.

The documents released include descriptions of multiple 2019 interviews the FBI held with the woman, who alleged she was assaulted by both Epstein and Trump while she was between 13 and 15 years old.

In one interview, the woman said Epstein took her to “either New York or New Jersey” and introduced her to Trump. 

The woman said she and people close to her received threatening calls over the years demanding she keep quiet that she believed were related to Epstein.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to the Epstein allegations, and the Justice Department previously said some of the documents it has released “contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump.”

Democrats have accused the Trump administration of covering up details of the Epstein investigation that could negatively impact Trump.

On Wednesday, a House committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions about the Justice Department´s handling of the documents.