Saudi Arabia has restored its output to pre-attack levels, and has turned its focus to the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told reporters in Moscow.
“We all rose to the challenge,” he said, as quoted by Reuters. Saudi Arabia’s production capacity has reached 11.3mn barrels per day, he added, noting that the attacks attempted to harm the nation’s reputation as “a reliable, secure and dependable oil supplier.”
Abqaiq and Khurais plants were attacks on 14 September, halving the nation’s production and taking 5.7mn bpd offline, which is around 5% of global supply.
“We have stabilised production capacity, we are at 11.3 (mn bpd),” he said. “We still have the kit and the tools to overcome any future challenges.”
Questions quickly surfaced about the potential impact of the attacks on the company’s listing, with analysts noting that if it could not maintain supply to its customers, Saudi Aramco’s valuation could suffer. The company maintained supply by drawing on its vast inventories and providing its customers different crude grades from fields that were not impacted by the attacks.
“We want to make sure that it is the most successful IPO,” Prince Abdulaziz added, calling the IPO Saudi Arabia’s “new challenge.”
