And Just Like That… Everything Changed
The ripple effect of Saturday’s drone strikes against Saudia Arabia has literally rocked the energy world. When a series of projectiles hit the Kingdom’s Abqaiq crude oil processing plant and Khurais oil field, news of the attacks sent oil prices soaring, fingers pointing, and vulnerabilities awakening to the global threat to energy infrastructure. Reese Energy Consulting today is studying the massive disruption of world oil markets caused by this weekend’s assault and what it may mean in the short and long term. Consider this: Saudi Aramco’s output of 9.8 MBPD now has been cut in half. Asia imports 2.5 MBPD from Saudi. The U.S. imports 600,000 BPD. Oil prices have surged to highs not seen in years with analysts predicting a potential jump to $80+ per barrel while the Kingdom begins reconstruction of its facilities. And a full return could take months. President Trump has authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if needed to keep the market well supplied and will expedite approval of oil pipelines in Texas and other major basins. Meanwhile, amping up infrastructure security just got a loud finger snap.