Qatar’s offshore drilling sites go dark as Middle East conflict intensifies

Eight offshore drilling rigs in Qatar’s coastal waters have been without power since March 22, prompting maritime authorities to urge heightened caution for vessels navigating in the area at night.

A notice circulated by regional maritime traffic operators warned that the loss of electricity has left the installations without lighting, increasing potential navigational risks, TASS reports.

According to the statement, the affected rigs belong to QatarEnergy LNG and are situated approximately 13 to 15 nautical miles off Qatar’s eastern coastline. The cause of the outage has not been disclosed, and there is no indication of when power will be restored.

The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions following the launch of a military operation by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28. The strikes targeted major Iranian cities, including Tehran, prompting a large-scale retaliatory response from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite branch of Iran’s armed forces.

Subsequent attacks have also hit US-linked facilities across the region, including in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, underscoring the widening scope of the conflict.

By Vafa Guliyeva