By Alex Mills
The attack on an oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia last week has raised new questions about the reliability and security of oil supplies in the future.
The attack on the Saudi Aramco Abqaiq oil processing facility, the world’s largest crude oil processing stabilization plant, occurred on Sept. 14, and originally took out approximately 5 million barrels per day (b/d) of the facilities capacity of 7 million b/d.
Crude oil prices on the futures markets initially increased about 10 percent closing at $68.10 for Brent and $61.95 for West Texas Intermediate on Sept. 16. However, by midweek prices had dropped to $63.52 for Brent and $58.10 for WTI.
Saudi Aramco stated it expected to resume full production by the end of September. Meanwhile, crude oil exports to customers will continue without interruption by drawing on existing inventories and offering additional crude oil production from other fields.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) at the U.S. Department of Energy reported tanker loading estimates from third-party data sources indicate that loadings at two Saudi Arabian export facilities have been restored to the pre-attack levels……