Swiss group supports Gulf oil and gas repairs

The scale of the Ras Laffan gas plant in Qatar is immense: the entire site covers an area of around 300 square kilometres. A total of 115,000 people work on the site. Qatar Energy LNG

It will take months – and in some cases years – to repair the war damage to oil and gas facilities across the Gulf region. Swiss industrial group Sulzer, based in Winterthur, is among the companies involved in the recovery effort.

Before any rebuilding can begin, the Strait of Hormuz must be made safe for navigation. Sea mines need to be cleared before container ships and tankers can resume moving goods in and out of the Persian Gulf. For economist and energy market analyst Cornelia Meyer, the outlook is clear: “It will take several months for supply chains to return to normal.”

Extensive repairs to oil and gas facilities

A critical factor is how quickly damaged infrastructure can be restored. Iranian missile strikes hit oil and gas facilities across the Gulf, in some cases causing significant damage.

One of the most important sites affected is the Ras Laffan gas plant in Qatar, through which roughly a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas is shipped. During the conflict, Iranian missiles struck two production facilities at the site. According to the state-owned operator QatarEnergy, repairs could take between three and five years.

Swiss company involved in repair work

Sulzer, which has supplied the oil and gas industry for decades, is now playing a role in the repairs. Company spokesperson Marlène Betschart says: “We have service centres across all affected areas. Thanks to this proximity, we can repair the damaged infrastructure quickly.”

A Google Earth aerial view of QatarEnergy, Shell and Sulzer’s facilities in Ras Laffan, Qatar. Google Earth / SRF

However, “quickly” is relative. The scale of the damage is decisive. At Ras Laffan, repairs are expected to take years. “These facilities are complex and require multiple contractors working on site to restore them to working order,” Betschart says.

She adds that the current work cannot be compared to routine maintenance: “This is, of course, quite different from regular repair work and may therefore take years.”

Sulzer employs around 500 people in the Gulf, roughly the same number as in Switzerland. One of its six regional service centres, including a full workshop team, is located directly at Ras Laffan.

Qatar is not an isolated case

The British energy company Shell also operates a natural gas facility at Ras Laffan that was damaged by Iranian strikes. In its case, Shell expects repair work to take up to a year.

A similar picture is emerging in the United Arab Emirates, where state oil company ADNOC says its facilities are likely to return to full production within about a year.

Drilling platforms must resume operations

The war also forced the shutdown of several offshore drilling platforms in the Persian Gulf. These facilities now need to be brought back online.

Depending on the situation, this can be a complex process, explains energy expert Cornelia Meyer: “There are some oil fields that can be brought back online very quickly. But offshore fields in particular take longer. It’s not a light switch; it’s an oil field.”

This means that restarting operations does not happen at the flick of a switch, as personnel and materials must first be transported back to the platforms.

All this underlines that the war damage cannot be repaired overnight – and the consequences are likely to be felt for some time. At Ras Laffan, QatarEnergy says natural gas production will have to be cut by around 20% until all war damage has been repaired.

Meyer points out that the disruption of the war goes beyond the oil and gas industry. “Other products from the region are also affected, such as fertilisers, aluminium and helium,” she says. Consequently, it will take time for production and supply chains to get back on track.

Translated from German, sub-edited by Simon Bradley