DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� An explosion tore through Qatar’s key natural gas export terminal Sunday night as workers tried to resume operations after , causing a fire that killed at least 13 people and hurt 66 others.
The blast at the could cause further chaos in global energy markets, as remains one of the world’s top natural gas producers. Qatar shut down its production after Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz meant it couldn’t get shipments out to clients.
With Iran loosening its grip as negotiations continue over a permanent end to the war, Qatar began work to try to restart its export terminal. That sparked the explosion and fire at the Barzan gas supply facility, state-run QatarEnergy said.
鈥淚 would like to emphasize that this was an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature,” Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi told a news conference Monday afternoon in Doha, Qatar鈥檚 capital.
The minister gave the toll and said the dead came from India and Pakistan. The nationalities of the 66 injured included people from Qatar and a variety of African and Asian nations, al-Kaabi said.
The scale of the damage remains unknown.
The Barzan plant had a capacity of almost 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day, which Qatar used primarily for local electricity generation and to power its crucial water desalination plants in the desert reaches of the Arabian Peninsula.
Qatar owns nearly all of the plant, with a small share also held by ExxonMobil. The oil company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, an Iranian missile hit Ras Laffan, sparking a fire that caused 鈥渆xtensive鈥� damage before it was extinguished, authorities said. Qatar had already halted production there because of Iranian attacks.
Qatar shares its massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with Iran. That natural gas production has made Qatar wealthy. It has used that money to raise its profile worldwide through hosting the , creating the and funding its work as an international mediator, including the between Iran and the United States.
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