The International Energy Agency has provided reassurances that the oil market remains well supplied despite recent attacks on facilities in Saudi Arabia.
The IEA states that the oil markets are “well supplied” and storage levels are healthy despite the recent drone attack in Saudi Arabia which took half of the nation’s oil production offline.
Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has also announced that he expects production levels in the country to be back to normal by the end of the month.
This news comes following attacks over the weekend at Saudi Aramco oil sites which included the world’s largest oil processing facility.
The IEA confirmed that it is in regular contact with Saudi Arabia and other oil producing nations and is prepared to take swift action in the event of any supply issues.
Bin Salman announced that 50% of affected oil production has now returned online, with 10 million barrels of crude oil per day expected by the end of September and 12 million barrels per day expected by the end of November.
The IEA also confirmed that member states have 1.55 billion barrels of government-controlled emergency supply in reserve, the equivalent of 15 days of global oil demand; enough to cope with any significant disruption.
As well as this, IEA members also hold 2.9 billion barrels of industry stocks, the equivalent of one-month of global oil demand.
IEA Executive Director, Dr Fatih Birol said: “Recent events are a reminder that oil security cannot be taken for granted, even at times when markets are well supplied and that energy security remains an indispensable pillar of the global economy.
“This is why the IEA remains vigilant about the risk of disruptions to global oil supplies, whether they are caused by extreme weather events such as hurricanes, major technical outages or geopolitical crises and stands ready to act when needed.”
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