Oil prices up on news from Saudi Arabia
By Sara Israfilbayova
World oil prices are growing on July 26 on news about Saudi Arabia’s suspension of raw materials exports through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait after the attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Brent crude oil futures rose 0.6 percent to $74.35 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Crude futures were also up 5 cents to $69.35 to the barrel, according to Reuters.
Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia said that the kingdom decided to halt oil exports through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait after the attack on the oil tanker in the Red Sea by Yemeni rebels.
Yemeni rebels from the Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) attacked the Saudi oil tanker on July 25.
According to al-Falih, two tankers of the Saudi national transport company were attacked, each of which transported two million barrels of oil. Minor damage was received by one of the tankers. None of the crew was injured. Through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, passes a significant part of international trade routes, including key supplies of energy and food.
Contribute to the growth of the cost of oil is also the statistics from the U.S. On July 25, the country’s Energy Ministry reported that commercial oil reserves in the U.S. (excluding the strategic reserve) for the week ended on July 20 fell by 6.1 million barrels, or 1.5 percent, to 404.9 million barrels. Thus, the level of stocks has shown a minimum since February 2015.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.
Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017.
OPEC and its partners decided to extend its production cuts till the end of 2018 in Vienna on November 30, as the oil cartel and its allies step up their attempt to end a three-year supply glut that has savaged crude prices and the global energy industry.
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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is
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