Oil prices surged more than 15 per cent to their highest level in nearly four months after an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities that knocked out more than five per cent of global oil supply. Brent crude futures jumped more than 19 per cent to a session high of 71.95 dollars a barrel at the market’s open. US crude futures surged more than 15 per cent to a session high of 63.34 dollars a barrel. Both benchmarks rose to their highest levels since May. Prices were up about 12 per cent by 22:50 GMT Sunday as gains were capped after US President Donald Trump said he authorised the release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) if needed in a quantity to be determined because of the attack on Saudi’s facilities. State oil giant Saudi Aramco said that Saturday’s coordinated drone strikes on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities cut output by 5.7 million barrels per day, at a time when Aramco is trying to ready itself for what is expected to be the world’s largest share sale. According to a senior US official, the attack on plants in the heartland of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, including the world’s biggest petroleum-processing facility, came from the direction of Iran and cruise missiles may have been used. Abhishek Kumar, Head of Analytics at Interfax Energy in London, told media that Saudi authorities have claimed to control the fires but this falls far short of extinguishing them. “The damage to facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais appears to be extensive, and it may be weeks before oil supplies are normalised,” he said.
