Locator: 50221QATAR.
At one time three countries could be counted on to keep their LNG promises: Qatar, the US, and Australia.
Qatar? No more. And once those contracts are signed it's hard to make changes, even if one has months to prepare.
Qatar? No more.
For decades, this geography -- that narrow Strait of Hormuz controlled by Iran, was considered a manageable risk, because Qatar had cultivated a reputation for perfect reliability.
They say Russia is the real winner of this more recent Gulf / Mideast war. Nope, the real winner is Texas. And the company? Venture Global.
********************************
Strait Security
My hunch: behind the scenes, the US diplomatic team is talking with Qatar, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia about the need for maintaining security in the strait. It's considered "international waters" by the UN and the UN is tasked with keeping the strait safe, secure and open.
My hunch: someone in the Mideast will step up to the task, most likely Saudi Arabia. It would be Qatar, but Qatar is simply too small and, oh, by the way, that's where the Hamas leadership resides in comfort. So, it will be Saudi Arabia with a young prince, eager to do these things, who will step up to the task -- but like William Shakespeare, the Saudi prince will simply be the factotum, the front man. The default organization: the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union and military alliance comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.[
The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
All current member states are monarchies, including three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman), and one federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states, each of which is an absolute monarchy with its own emir).
There have been discussions regarding the future membership of Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen. Iraq is the only Gulf Arab state that is not a GCC member.
Iran is not a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) primarily because the organization was established in 1981, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, as a security and political bloc of Arab monarchies designed specifically to counter Iran’s regional influence and ideological expansion. Fundamental ideological, geopolitical, and security differences divide them.
This is also one of the reasons that the Arab countries have not politely asked the US to declare victory and go home.
The GCC has long wanted to see Iran answer for its misdeeds, and never wants Iran to have nuclear weapons. They now know they have been right since 1979.
Now that Iran has used the "nuclear option" to close the strait, the GCC is more united than ever.
Remember the deals that were made between the US and Saudi Arabia after the CHIPS Act and Trump's overtures; we could very well see the same thing on the economic and political front with regard to the strait.
Even more interesting, China is 1000% in support of maintaining a safe, secure, and open strait.
Russia, not so much, but will play along to get along now that's it's tied down in Ukraine.
Along with Texas, Saudi may ultimately be another winner of this war.
See also this link: the Kurds.
