QatarEnergy has extended its force majeure on LNG deliveries to buyers in Asia and Europe by another month, through the end of November, as cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.

The state-owned producer, ranked as the world's second-largest LNG exporter before the war, has formally notified customers of the extension, according to reporting on the customer notices. Recipients include buyers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, at least one buyer in India, and Italy's Edison.

The extension pushes the supply disruption into a second consecutive month, deepening the gap between Qatari contracted volumes and what buyers in South Asia and Europe can actually lift. Qatar's export position hinges almost entirely on the Hormuz chokepoint: tankers loading at Ras Laffan must transit the strait to reach both Asian and European customers, leaving the company with no practical reroute while the waterway stays closed to LNG traffic.

The stalemate between the United States and Iran over the strait — and over pathways to end the war more broadly — shows no sign of a near-term resolution. That timeline uncertainty is the operative variable for Qatari export volumes: each additional month of force majeure removes a further tranche of contracted LNG from the Atlantic and Pacific basins.

For the notified buyers, the picture varies. Bangladesh and Pakistan depend heavily on LNG imports for power generation and industrial feedstock, and both have limited storage and alternative supply. India's notified buyer joins a list of South Asian customers already managing high spot exposure. Edison, part of Italy's EDF group, holds Qatari volumes among its portfolio supply for the Italian and wider European market, where utilities have had more room to substitute — though at a price.

The extension also keeps pressure on the global LNG balance. With Qatari cargoes offline, spot availability tightens and buyers without long-cover turn to the Atlantic basin — the US Gulf, in particular — where export plants are running near nameplate. European TTF and Asian spot prices have already priced in the outage risk; traders will treat any signal of Hormuz reopening, or of a further December extension, as the next directional marker.

Watch item: whether QatarEnergy issues a third force-majeure notice before the end of November — and whether any movement in the U.S.-Iran talks reopens the strait to LNG traffic before the December loading program is set.