Production partially restored at Saudi oil facility
DUBAI (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says 50 percent of the production cut by the attack on its oil processing plant has been restored.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman made the comments Tuesday night at a news conference in Jeddah.
The attack Saturday struck a Saudi oil field and the world’s largest crude oil processing plant, which knocked out 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production per day for the kingdom, or about five percent of the world’s daily production.
The prince added that within this month, production capacity will be up to 11 million barrels per day by the end of September. It had been around 9.6 milllion barrels per day before the attack.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said yesterday it joined a US-led coalition to secure the Mideast’s waterways amid threats from Iran after an attack targeting its crucial oil industry, while Iran’s president told the kingdom it should see the attack as a warning to end its yearslong war in Yemen.
The kingdom’s decision to enter the International Maritime Security Construct came ahead of a planned visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Saudi officials separately planned to share information about the weapons used to attack a Saudi oil field and the world’s largest crude oil processing plant Saturday.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed the attack.
The US accuses Iran of being behind the assault, while Saudi Arabia already has said “Iranian weaponry” was used.
Iran denies that, though it comes amid a summer of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
“Almost certainly it’s Iranian-backed,” Prince Khalid bin Bandar, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, told the BBC.
“We are trying not to react too quickly because the last thing we need is more conflict in the region.”
The state-run Saudi Press Agency carried a statement yesterday morning quoting an unnamed official saying the kingdom had joined the International Maritime Security Construct.
Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom already have joined the mission.
“The kingdom’s accession to this international alliance comes in support of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threats to maritime navigation and global trade,” the news agency said.
Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, declined to comment on the Saudi announcement, saying it “would be inappropriate to comment on the status of individual nations and the nature of any potential support.”