Client
International energy group · upstream, LNG and refining across six Gulf states
The Event
From 2 March 2026, drones and missiles struck Gulf energy infrastructure: Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, then SAMREF Yanbu and two Kuwaiti refineries on 19 March. Strikes on Ras Laffan removed roughly 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity. An explosion at Barzan on 21 June killed 13 workers. More than 52,000 flights were cancelled in the first fortnight.
What the Client Was Facing
- A threat class the programme wasn’t built for. Refinery security assumes intrusion and process safety, not stand-off aerial attack.
- Evacuation with the airspace closed. Commercial air was unavailable exactly when it was needed.
- A 200-day event, not a 72-hour one. Crisis rosters and decision-log continuity became the binding constraint.
How Datasurfr Helped
- Monitor Risk Watch by asset class — LNG train, refinery, terminal, jetty — so a strike on any peer facility triggered review.
- Assess Control rooms, accommodation, rotational staff and contractors mapped; exposure ranked in descending order.
- Decide Defined escalation thresholds triggered drawdown; charter air was pre-contracted before aviation degraded further.
- Act Two-way check-ins across employees and contractors, every action time-stamped on one dashboard.
Impact
- Contractors and employees tracked together — preventing ad hoc rescue calls that could strand others
- Evacuation thresholds held across six countries, stopping escalation in one region forcing cascading decisions elsewhere
- Timestamped audit trail gave insurers settlement certainty, shortening claim resolution by weeks
“Across two hundred days the constraint was never information. It was whether one team could sustain asset protection, accountability, evacuation and an audit trail at once.”
