Brent rises on Jeddah oil storage attack

Saudi Aramco’s oil storage facility in Jeddah was bombarded with drone strikes today and pushed Brent higher amid heightened supply concerns.

PHOTO: Thick, billowing smoke from oil storage tanks in Jeddah today. Twitter via @LucasFoxNews

Twitter videos by civilians show a blazing fire with a massive cloud of smoke flaring up from the storage tanks.

Yemen’s Houthi militia has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the last in a number of drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabian cities and oil installations in the past two years.

Front-month ICE Brent was trading around $116/bbl earlier today, before surging above $120/bbl after the attack.

Saudi Arabia said earlier this week it cannot be responsible for any global oil supply shortages wihle its oil facilities are under regular attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi militia. The recent attacks have affected Saudi Arabia’s production capability and its ability to fulfil supply commitments, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.