Gulf companies will still face disruptions in Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz may be reopening, but Gulf energy companies still face weeks, if not months, of disruption following the deal with Iran brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump that was signed on Monday.

Clearing mines from the waterway could take 40 to 50 days, leaving shipowners, insurers and energy producers such as Saudi Aramco, ADNOC and QatarEnergy navigating a slow recovery, Reuters reports.

Oil markets are already pricing in a recovery, with Brent crude falling below $83 a barrel after peaking above $120 during the conflict, while Middle East crude markets weakened on expectations that Saudi, Emirati and Qatari exports will increase.

Meanwhile, Qatar is preparing to restart production at QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG export complex, which exported almost one-fifth of global LNG supply in 2025 before being idled for more than three months, Bloomberg reports.

The return of Ras Laffan would restore tens of billions of dollars in annual LNG exports and provide a boost to buyers in Europe and Asia that have been scrambling to replace Qatari cargoes since the effective closure of Hormuz.