Single $100,000 Drone Cut Qatar's LNG Output By 17% During Recent Crisis, Al Ansari Says

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: For the latest updates on US-Iran hostilities since a 14-point MoU expired on August 17, follow the Khaleej Times live blog.]

Speaking at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, Dr Majed Al Ansari, Adviser to Qatar's Prime Minister, revealed that the recent regional crisis triggered a 90 per cent drop in LNG supplies and a 77 per cent drop in oil coming out of the Gulf, scales he said "we have not seen in any previous crisis."

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Al Ansari said a single drone, costing no more than $100,000, cut Qatar's LNG production capacity by 17 per cent, while similar attacks disrupted more than 20 per cent of global LNG supply during the crisis overall. However, he added that more than 90 per cent of attacks on the Gulf were deterred, and that no Gulf country had tapped into its strategic reserves or faced supply shortages throughout the crisis.

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The opening panel on Gulf regional security also featured Vice Admiral John Miller, former commander of the US Fifth Fleet, who warned that despite the reach of naval power, cheap drones and small boats launched from shore remain capable of deterring commercial shipping through chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab Al Mandeb, and that no purely military solution exists without accompanying diplomatic and economic measures.

The panel was moderated by Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Al Dhaheri, Deputy Director-General of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA).

A representative of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs' policy planning department also spoke on the panel, arguing that the crisis exposed gaps in translating the Gulf's shared threat perception into cohesive collective action after three decades of relative strategic insulation.

The third edition of the Hili Forum, held at The St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort under the theme "Gulf at Crossroads: Conflict, Consequences and Course Correction," is jointly organised by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) and AGDA, and brings together more than 55 speakers and over 1,000 participants from more than 35 countries.

The forum takes its name from the Hili oasis in Al Ain, an ancient meeting point for trade and ideas, and this year's sessions focus on Gulf security frameworks, deterrence policy, maritime chokepoint security, and the resilience of trade and energy supply chains.

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