Saudi Arabia warns of ‘jittery period’ for oil supplies

Saudi Arabia’s oil chief has said markets are going through a “jittery period” and reiterated that the kingdom’s ability to ensure energy security is no longer guaranteed.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said cross-border attacks have put to question “our ability to supply the world with the necessary energy requirements”.

The attacks have been carried out by Yemen’s rebel Houthis, who are supported by Iran.

“In the old days, we, along with our friends here in the UAE, worked on a collective effort to assure and ensure energy security. These pillars are no longer there,” the minister said.

The Saudi energy minister spoke at the World Government Summit, an event sponsored by the government of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Oil prices, already at their highest in years, have shot up further amid attacks from the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, Opec’s largest oil producer.

Brent crude prices are trading above 110 dollars a barrel, though have soared at times past 120 dollars.

The Houthis have used drones and missiles to target the kingdom’s oil facilities, and have also attacked targets in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.

On Friday, they hit a Saudi oil products storage facility in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the air that were visible from the vicinity of the Formula One race where practice laps were under way.

Saudi Arabia has expressed its frustrations in official statements, saying it will not bear any responsibility for shortages in oil supplies due to the attacks.

Crude oil prices have also been buoyed by a deal struck by leading producers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, in an alliance known as Opec+, which limited oil production to keep prices from crashing amid pandemic lockdowns in 2020.

The group has stuck to its cautious plan of releasing more barrels on a monthly basis as Covid-19 restrictions have eased, but critics of the plan say the Russian war in Ukraine is disrupting markets and sending energy prices soaring for consumers at the pump.

The UAE’s energy minister, Suhail al-Mazrouei, doubled-down on the Opec+ alliance on Monday in remarks at an energy forum in Dubai.

Again on Tuesday, he and the Saudi energy minister stressed the importance of Russia’s roughly 10 million barrels a day in crude output, saying it amounts to about 10% of global energy demand and insisting that politics — in reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — should be separated from energy policy.

The war in Yemen — where a Saudi-led military coalition, which includes the UAE, has been battling the Houthis since 2015 — has rattled these two Gulf Arab states, revealing the vulnerability of their oil facilities.

The largest attack claimed by the Houthis took place in late 2019 against a sprawling Saudi Aramco site in the kingdom’s eastern region, temporarily knocking out production at the world’s largest oil processing facility in Abqaiq.