Drone strikes on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities push crude oil prices over $70 per barrel
India TV NewsOil prices rose Monday as Saudi Arabian oil facilities were targeted by drone strikes just days after the largest crude exporting nations in the world said they would not increase output. The attacks in Saudi Arabia follow a devastating winter freeze in Texas and other parts of the southern United States last month knocked out production of roughly 4 million barrels per day of U.S. oil, pushing prices above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year. The Ministry of Energy denounced the strike as “an act of sabotage” targeting not only Saudi Arabia “but also the security and stability of energy supplies to the world.” When key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked in 2019, global energy prices soared 14% the next day. In January, after Saudi Arabia announced it would cut production by 1 million barrels per day on top of cuts the kingdom already made through its agreement with the OPEC cartel, prices for U.S. benchmark crude pushed above $50 a barrel.