Bloomberg Surveillance · Monday, July 13, 2026
Qatar has evolved significantly since the 1980s, becoming a major LNG exporter and a key owner of a large energy facility in the US. Despite geopolitical challenges like the Strait of Hormuz closure, Qatar is positioned to weather economic storms due to its investment flow and strategic alliance with the United States.
“I first visited them when they were just beginning to become an LNG exporting country, some four decades ago, maybe a little bit longer than that.”
“So we have a very large energy facility now opening up in the US, and the Qataris are a major owner of that. If you look at their investment flow, it's ex not internal. So they are in a position where they can weathered this much better than you would have thought with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz twenty years ago or forty years ago.”
“And that's true as well of the UAE. By intention, both countries have relatively low populations and they found a way to sustain themselves, and of course they need as their major source of strategic alliance. The United States hasn't been fully reliable lately, but there's nowhere else to go.”