Saudi Aramco has fully restored its oil production and capacity to pre-attack levels, said Ibrahim Al-Buainain, CEO of its trading arm.
Al-Buainain said that capacity was restored on 25 September, and oil production hit 9.7mn barrels per day (bpd), around the same level as it was producing before attacks hit the Khurais and Abqaiq facilities. He noted that production might be “a little higher” in order to resupply inventories.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Saudi Aramco’s production capacity hit 11.3mn bpd, citing anonymous sources. Saudi officials have said that Aramco will restore capacity to 12mn bpd by the end of November.
The 14 September attacks halved Saudi Arabia’s production, cutting 5.7mn barrels per day. It maintained supply to its customers by using its inventories, and drawing from other fields with different crude grades. Prices jolted following the attack, at one point crossing $70 per barrel of Brent crude, before settling back down to the $60 per barrel range.
While Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which are backed by Iran, have claimed responsibility, both the US and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of perpetrating the attacks, with a preliminary investigation by the Arab Coalition finding that the weapons used were supplied by Iran.Â
