Quick return of Saudi oil output would demonstrate resilience

Saudi Arabia’s ability to quickly restore oil production after the weekend’s attacks on its oil facilities would demonstrate an important degree of resilience to potentially very damaging shocks, Moody’s said on Thursday.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Tuesday the kingdom will restore its lost oil production by the end of September. The attacks on state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco’s plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, including the world’s largest oil processing facility, shut down 5.7 million barrels of output per day.

“The ability to quickly restore production to normal, if confirmed later this month, would demonstrate an important degree of resilience to potentially very damaging shocks,” said Alex Perjessy, a Moody’s vice president.