Pradhan Allays Fears On Crude Oil Front

Drone-hit Saudi Aramco assures India of normal supplies

INDIA will not face any disruption in its oil imports due to the cut in production at its second biggest crude supplier Saudi Arabia, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.

A massive drone strike has damaged the world's largest crude-processing facility operated by Saudi Arabia's Aramco driving oil prices to a four-month high. The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day.

India imports as much as 83 per cent of its crude oil requirement and Saudi Arabia is the country’s second biggest supplier next to Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 which comprised around 20 per cent of the total imports at 207.3 million tonnes.

Oil prices surged by as much as 19% before coming off peaks. The intraday jump was the biggest since the 1991 Gulf War.