Attacks on Saudi Arabia facilities send Brent crude surging above $70/bbl

Pearl Bantillo

08-Mar-2021

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities on Sunday sent crude surging by more than 2% on Monday, with Brent crude now trading at above $71/bbl.

At 10:51 Singapore time (02:51 GMT), Brent crude surged 2.64% to $71.19/bbl, while US crude spiked 2.53% at $67.76/bbl.

The first attack on 7 March was made by “a drone, coming from the sea” at one of the petroleum tank farms in Ras Tanura Port in eastern Saudi Arabia, a spokesperson from the Saudi Ministry of Energy said in a statement posted on state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Another attack came in the evening on the facilities of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest crude exporter.

“Shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near Saudi Aramco’s residential area in the city of Dhahran, where thousands of the company’s employees and their families from different nationalities live,” the energy ministry spokesperson said.

It was further stated that “both attacks did not result in any injury or loss of life or property”.

In a separate statement, the official spokesperson of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said: “Those failed attempts did not target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s security and economic assets, but the core of global economy and its oil supplies, as well as the security of global energy.”

“The Ministry of Defense will undertake all necessary, deterrent measures to safeguard its national assets in a manner that preserves the security of global energy, puts an end to these acts of terrorism, guarantees the security and stability of oil supplies, protects security of petroleum exports and safeguards freedom of shipping and international trade,” the ministry spokesperson added.

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