At the Qatar Economic Forum in New York City on Sunday, September 20, 2026, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi publicly disputed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's earlier claim that the Strait of Hormuz would become strategically insignificant within two years. Al-Kaabi, who also heads QatarEnergy, called Bessent's view "completely wrong," emphasizing that the waterway is crucial for all types of trade, not just oil and gas. He stated that Qatar has no plans to build pipelines to bypass the strait. Sheikh Faisal Al-Thani, Qatar's Commerce Minister, echoed this, noting that 90 percent of global shipping uses sea routes. The disagreement comes as Gulf countries develop pipeline alternatives, though recent drone attacks highlight infrastructure vulnerabilities.
We’ll perform a deep-dive analysis of all sources and publicly available external materials, then prepare a structured timeline of events, an in-depth report explaining the background and context, and multiple perspectives.