Iranian missile strikes have severely damaged Qatar’s liquefied natural gas facilities, forcing the government to invoke “force majeure” on long-term supply contracts for up to five years.

Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said the decision had already been taken for contracts with Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China.

For Bangladesh, senior Petrobangla officials said QatarEnergy had declared force majeure until April 18. They could not say whether it would be extended after a second wave of strikes on the Ras Laffan industrial city, the country’s main LNG production hub.

Force majeure — a French term for a standard contractual clause — releases a party from its obligations when an unforeseen and unavoidable event such as war, pandemic or natural disaster makes performance impossible. It allows temporary relief or cancellation without liability.

QatarEnergy has a 15-year contract to supply LNG to Bangladesh, signed with Petrobangla on September 25, 2017. Deliveries began in April 2018 and under the agreement, the Qatari state-owned company is due to supply 40 cargoes in the current fiscal year.

Imports have now been suspended following the strikes. QatarEnergy had already told Bangladesh it would be unable to deliver any cargo before April 18 under the force majeure clause.

A second wave of Iranian missile strikes last Wednesday night caused further extensive damage to LNG infrastructure, raising fresh uncertainty over supplies to multiple countries.

Qatar is now preparing to invoke force majeure for up to five years across its long-term LNG contracts with various nations. Senior Petrobangla officials said they had yet to receive any indication that the extended period would apply to Bangladesh, though they remain in constant contact with QatarEnergy.

“QatarEnergy declared force majeure for Bangladesh for LNG imports until April 18,” Petrobangla chairman Md Erfanul Haque told Bonik Barta. “After that, our next cargo is scheduled for delivery on April 25. We’re continuously communicating to get the April cargo. Since today [yesterday] is Eid in Qatar, we didn’t contact them. We have round‑the‑clock communication with them.”

Asked whether Bangladesh would be included in the longer-term declaration, he said: “We haven’t received any new decision from Qatar.”

Saad Al Kaabi said in a recent interview with Reuters that damage to two LNG trains meant the state-owned company had to invoke force majeure for up to five years on long-term supply contracts with Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China.

He said the clause had initially been applied for a short period but would now remain in force for as long as the damage persists.

The minister detailed extensive destruction at Ras Laffan, telling Reuters on Thursday that 17 percent of LNG capacity had been knocked out. The damage could cut Qatar’s annual revenue by an estimated $20 billion. The facilities had cost roughly $26 billion to build.