The attack on Saudi Arabia’s most important oil facilities over the weekend won’t affect Indonesian supplies, Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry acting oil and gas director general Djoko Siswanto said.
The attack disrupted almost half of Saudi’s oil capacity (5.7 million bopd). But the minister is confident that the Kingdom has enough production to fulfill its exports commitment to Indonesia.
Indonesia imports around 11,000 barrels of oil per day, only 0.8 percent of the 13.6 million bopd produced by Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s Involvement
The Yemen’s Houthi rebels took responsibility of the attack. However, a Saudi-lead military coalition said the attack was carried out with Iranian weapons. U.S. intelligence also backed Iran’s involvement. It supplied satellite images showing the weapons came from Iran.
The Saudi attack pushed oil prices higher this week. International benchmark Brent climbed 14.4 percent to $68.9 per barrel on Monday, although it slightly cooled to $67.83 per barrel the next day, according to Bloomberg. Many analysts predict that oil prices will likely remain expensive and volatile.
“ICP prices are $5 cheaper than Brent. So $67 minus $5 equals $62 per barrel. We recently set the ICP prices at $63 for 2020, so it’s still within the target range,” he said in reference to Indonesia Crude Price in next year’s state budget draft.
Ministry data revealed that Indonesia imported one-seventh of the 763,780 BOPD – both crude oil and processed fuel – from Saudi Arabia. Djoko said that if there’s a lasting supply disruption from Saudi Arabia, the government will be ready to buy oil from rival U.S. energy company Exxon.
U.S. president Trump authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if needed.
Also read: Oil Prices Surge Pushes Asia Markets Lower
