Qatar’s energy boss says he had warned of dangers of provoking Iran

As Qatar reels from an Iranian attack that has hobbled its giant natural gas company, its boss, who doubles as the country’s energy minister, says he had warned officials and executives of just such a danger should Iran’s own sites be hit.

“I was always warning, talking to executives from oil and gas that are partnered with us, talking to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, to warn him of that consequence and that that could be detrimental to us,” QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters.

QatarEnergy’s partners include major U.S. energy companies such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

“They were aware of the threat, and they were always reminded by me, almost on a daily basis, that we need to make sure that there is restraint on oil and gas facilities,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy deferred to the White House on the matter.

Asked for comment, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said “President Trump and his entire energy team were not ignorant of the reality that there would be short-term disruptions to oil and gas supply during the ongoing operations in Iran, and planned for these highly anticipated, temporary disruptions.”