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Attack on Saudi Oil Facilities Impacts Overall Energy Security - Russian Energy Minister

© AFP 2023 / -Smoke billows from an Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq about 60km (37 miles) southwest of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's eastern province on September 14, 2019
Smoke billows from an Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq about 60km (37 miles) southwest of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's eastern province on September 14, 2019 - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Incidents such as a recent attack on Saudi oil facilities impact the overall energy security, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Monday.

"Such energy security facilities, when they suffer such attacks, it impacts the general energy security issues, so this should not happen," Novak told reporters.

The minister said he was in touch with his Saudi counterpart, Abdulaziz bin Salman, following an attack on the kingdom's oil facilities and planned to talk to him later in the day.

"We are in contact and we plan to talk today, our teams are working at the moment," Novak told reporters.

"Our colleagues, our teams are in touch. We are monitoring the situation," the minister said.

The minister noted that an emergency meeting of OPEC+ is always possible, but the impact of recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities has to be measured first.

"This option is always on the table, but it all depends, really, on the assessment of how it will impact the market in the long term. We will have to see what will happen with the rebuilding of this infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, and it will depend on that," Novak told reporters when asked if an emergency OPEC+ meeting was possible.

The minister added that the parameters of the OPEC+ deal on oil output freeze did not change after the attack and had to be complied with.

"If there is some need, some extraordinary circumstances, we can always get together and discuss some other parameters. At the moment, it is too early to say, it is not clear how fast the facilities will recover," the minister said.

Attack on Saudi Oil Facilities Not on Agenda of Putin's Talks in Ankara

The recent drone attack on Saudi oil facilities is not on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin's talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara, but the issue may be discussed by the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey during their meetings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"It is not on the agenda, but [the leaders] usually exchange opinions on the most relevant issues, so we can expect them to discuss this incident," Peskov told reporters ahead of Putin's visit.

Later on Monday, Putin is expected to arrive in Ankara, where he will participate in the trilateral summit on Syria and hold separate meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia had to shut down two Saudi Aramco's oil facilities, namely Abqaiq and Khurais, after a drone attack claimed by Yemeni Houthis caused massive fires. The incident led to a cut in oil production totalling 5.7 million barrels per day, about half of Saudi Arabia’s daily oil output.

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