MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. The declining production in Saudi Arabia, caused by attacks on Saudi Aramco’s facilities, would not lead to a force majeure on the oil market. OPEC is monitoring the situation together with the International Energy Agency (IEA), a senior OPEC official told TASS.
"Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco in particular are on top of the situation. So far, they have handled the disruption admirably. There is no force majeure," the source said.
The source added that supply security is a top priority for OPEC, due to which the organization’s headquarters monitor the situation together with the IEA. According to the source, the question of convening an extraordinary meeting of OPEC countries is not discussed. "There is no panic button in OPEC," the source concluded.
The facilities of Saudi Aramco in the east of Saudi Arabia were attacked by ten drones in the small hours on Saturday. Yemeni Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement claimed responsibility for the incident. In particular, the world’s biggest oil refinery near the city of Abqaiq and a refinery near Khurais, where Saudi’s second largest oil field is located, came under the attack.