JERA says war could push buyers to non-Middle East suppliers

A prolonged US-Israeli war with Iran could push buyers to non-Middle East suppliers such as the US and Canada, said a senior executive at Japan's biggest power generator JERA, as the conflict spreads to energy infrastructure across the region.

"With 90 million tonnes from the Middle East absent from the global LNG market, the longer this persists, the greater the impact," Senior Managing Executive Officer Ryosuke Tsugaru said in an interview on Wednesday.

Later on Wednesday, Qatar, the world's second-largest LNG exporter, said Iranian missiles had hit Ras Laffan, the site of its core LNG processing operations, causing "extensive damage".

JERA on Thursday declined to comment on the attack.