Markets

Oil drops 5% one day after historic surge as Saudis signal output to return to normal soon

Key Points
  • Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom's oil supply will be back online by the end of September.
  • Fifty percent of the oil production loss from the attack has been restored in the past two days, bin Salman said
  • A coordinated attack knocked out 5.7 million barrels of daily crude production or more than half of the kingdom's oil output.
  • Brent crude oil jumped the most in history in the previous session.
Saudi oil minister says all capacity will be restored by end of September
VIDEO3:5403:54
Saudi oil minister says all capacity will be restored by end of September

Oil prices plunged on Tuesday after the Saudi energy minister said the kingdom's oil supply will soon be back online.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, dropped 6.55% or $4.52, to $64.46 per barrel. The contract soared as much as 19.5% on Monday to $71.95 per barrel, the biggest jump in history after a series of attacks on Saudi's heart of oil industry disrupted its production.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures ended the session 5.7% or $3.56 lower at $59.34 per barrel after posting their biggest climb since 2008 in the previous session.

Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in a press conference Tuesday that oil production capabilities were fully restored and that oil output will be back to pre-attack levels by the end of September.

Brent crude oil prices surged the most on record on Monday following a series of attacks over the weekend on Saudi's oil industry that disrupted the kingdom's crude production.

The largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq and the nearby oil field was attacked on Saturday, knocking out 5.7 million barrels of daily crude production or more than half of the kingdom's oil output.

Fifty percent of the oil production loss from the attack has been restored in the past two days, bin Salman said, adding that production capacity would reach 10 million barrels of crude per day (bpd) by the end of this month and 12 million bpd by the end of November.

The CEO of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, said its Abqaiq oil plants are producing 2 million barrels of oil at the moment.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he did not think it would be necessary to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because oil prices have not jumped very much, Reuters reported.

"Geopolitical events have a historic tendency of exaggerated initial impact in markets, with a smaller economic and market impact emerging over a short period of time," Steven Wieting, Citi's chief investment strategist, said in a note. "The degree of any escalation with Iran is the more critical issue for longer-lasting supply risks. Temporary disruptions for repairs inside Saudi are very different."

Oil stocks soared after a Saudi oil facility attack — Five experts on what the move means
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Oil stocks soared after a Saudi oil facility attack — Five pros on oil

The Saudis have grown increasingly confident that Iran directly launched a complex missile and drone attack from its southern territory, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.

Trump said Monday he's in no rush to respond to the coordinated attack. When asked if Iran was behind it, Trump said "It's certainly looking that way at this point."

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said the attacks on Aramco were a "reciprocal response" to the aggression against Yemen.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said initial investigations have indicated that the weapons used in the attack were Iranian weapons. "Investigations are still ongoing to determine the source of the attack," it said.