Saudi Arabia’s oil production will be fully recovered by the end of this month from last weekend’s drone attacks on Saudi oil installations, said energy minister Abdulaziz Bin Salman on Tuesday at a press conference. It was previously feared that it could take months before the production was largely restored.
Insiders reported earlier on Tuesday that the recovery would probably be faster. As a result, oil prices fell sharply, following Monday’s sharp price rise. The price of a barrel of American oil (of 159 liters) fell by 5 percent to $ 59.83 and Brent oil fell by more than 5 percent to $ 65.46 per barrel.
The production loss due to drone attacks on oil facilities at state oil company Saudi Aramco in Abqaiq and Khurais amounted to 5.7 million barrels of oil per day, about 5 percent of oil production worldwide.
The energy minister further said that Saudi Arabia will continue to play its role as a global oil supplier and that the country must take strict measures to prevent further attacks.
According to the minister, it is not yet clear who committed the attacks and why. The United States and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of the attacks, but Tehran denies. The Houthi rebels from Yemen have claimed the attacks.
The Saudi Aramco summit stated that the costs of damage to the facilities are still being investigated. The long planned IPO of Saudi Aramco should take place within twelve months, depending on market conditions. In addition, the state oil company should be valued at $ 2,000 billion.
Maurice Esma, a co-founder of EconomicInform is a freelance journalist with the expertise in international finance and corporate rights. The author can be reached by email maurice.eisma@economicinform.com
