Qatar Launches Lebanon Power Lifeline and Holds Energy Talks With Iran

Qatar is pursuing a sweeping energy expansion across the Middle East, unveiling a draft electricity plan for Lebanon and holding a ministerial meeting with Iran's acting oil minister in Doha on the same day. Under the Lebanon plan, seen by Reuters, Qatar would construct two power plants and sign a 20-year LNG supply deal, giving the cash-strapped country a long-term electricity lifeline. Lebanon's state electricity company has accumulated roughly $40 billion in losses over recent decades, making the Qatari commitment one of the most significant external interventions in the sector.

Separately, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, met Iran's Acting Oil Minister Hamid Bovard in Doha to discuss energy relations and cooperation between the two countries. The meeting signals a diplomatic opening between the two Gulf neighbors at a moment when regional energy markets remain under stress, with QatarEnergy itself operating under force majeure constraints on some LNG cargoes tied to ongoing conflict disruptions.