New Delhi, March 12 -- "THIS WILL bring down the economies of the world," warned Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister, on March 6th. It was not hyperbole. Days earlier QatarEnergy, which produces a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG), shut down its production and export facilities after some were hit by Iranian strikes. Unable to extract, process and, because the Strait of Hormuz is all but blocked by the fighting, ship its LNG, the firm has declared force majeure on its contracts. The price of LNG has ballooned on world markets. Customers the world over, who use it to generate electricity, heat homes and make things like fertiliser, are scrambling to respond.

Exactly how far down the Qatari pause will bring economies hing...