The disruption surpasses the loss of Kuwaiti and Iraqi petroleum output in August 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded his neighbor. It also exceeds the loss of Iranian oil production in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution, according to the IEA.
Nevertheless, U.S Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday that the market is well-supplied and a “staggering spike” in prices is unlikely.
Brent futures slipped 38 cents to $68.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 10:14 a.m. London time, while WTI dropped 66 cents to $62.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent is trading at a $6.62 premium to WTI for the same month.
If Abqaiq “takes months to come back online we could see Brent move into the $70-to-$80-per-barrel range,” Vivek Dhar, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note. “A retaliatory attack against Iran could see oil prices spike even higher.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.