Critics and fans alike of President Donald Trump have recently taken to accusing him of attempting to build an “Energy Fortress America” in his second presidency. If that’s true, U.S. LNG will be a watchman on the fortress’s walls.

The pace of commissioning and construction of additional U.S. LNG export projects has accelerated in the wake of Iran’s attack on Qatar’s major LNG hub at Ras Lafan. QatarEnergy declared a force majeure situation following the mid-March missile attack, saying the completion of full repairs would take three to five years. That removed roughly 17% of global LNG production from the market, though QatarEnergy says it will be able to execute a partial restart as soon as late April.

QatarEnergy has not provided exact specifications detailing its remaining production capacity once a restart is executed, but it is known that at least two of the plant’s 14 trains will remain offline until replacement equipment – made by only three companies worldwide – can be acquired and installed. Supply chains for the needed parts are backed up for years. Satellite imagery recently showed heat signatures from two of the Ras Laffan trains, indicating they could be capable of a fast restart. But even that remains up in the air unless and until Iran’s........

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