Centre’s Assurance after Attack on Saudi Facilities

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that oil supplies to India will not be disrupted after an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend halved the kingdom's production.

"We have reviewed our overall crude oilsupplies for the month of September with our Oil Marketing Companies. We areconfident there would be no supply disruption to India. We are closelymonitoring the evolving situation," he said.

"Following the attacks on the oilstabilisation centres of Saudi Aramco, top executives of Aramco have beencontacted. Indian ambassador in Riyadh contacted the senior management ofAramco to ensure steady supply to India," he added.

Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oilexporter and the attack on state-owned producer Saudi Aramco's crude-processingfacilities at Abqaiq and Khurais has cut output by 5.7 million barrels per day.The company has not given a timeline for the resumption of full output.

Two sources briefed on Aramco's operationstold news agency Reuters that a full return to normal production volumes"may take months".

India, one of the biggest importers of Saudioil along with China and Indonesia, was expected to be vulnerable to the supplydisruption.

Saudi oil exports will continue as normalthis week as the kingdom taps into stocks from its large storage facilities, anindustry source briefed on the developments told Reuters.

But oil prices surged nearly 20 per cent atone point on Monday, with Brent crude posting its biggest intraday gain sincethe Gulf War in 1991.

State-run oil company Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Limited said that the price of petrol and diesel at retail outletsmight go up if the price of crude stays at current levels.

The attack on plants in the heartland ofSaudi Arabia's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum-processingfacility at Abqaiq, came from the direction of Iran, and cruise missiles mayhave been used, a US official was quoted as saying by Reuters.