Oil Prices Down as Saudi Arabia's Supply Concerns Ease

As local oil prices went up by as much as PHP2 yesterday, September 24, following the attack on two oil processing facilities in Saudia Arabia in the early morning hours of September 14, the prices in the global market went down as as investors' worries eased with news that the kingdom is expected to restore full production by next week.

International benchmark Brent Crude was trading at USD64.29 per barrel at 0624 GMT for a 0.25-percent decline after closing on Monday, September 23, at USD64.45 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at USD58.32 a barrel at the same time for a 0.07-percent loss after ending the previous session at USD58.36 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia's oil production was down by 5.7 million barrels per day (mbpd) due to drone attacks on its two major oil facilities. Since then, the kingdom has restored around three-quarters of this volume, according to the latest news reports.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on September 17 that output from national oil company, Saudi Aramco, will be fully back online by the end of September.

The kingdom's oil production will reach 11 mbpd by the end of this month, and will continue to rise to 12 mbpd by the end of November, bin Salman said last week.