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Saudi Arabia raced on Sunday to restart operations at oil plants hit by drone attacks which slashed its production by half, as Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the assault.
But Bloomberg News, citing anonymous sources said the Kingdom needs weeks to restore full production.
A significant volume of oil production can be restored by Aramco within days, Bloomberg said.
Aramco has said it will dip into its reserves to offset the disruption, but the incident could affect investor confidence as its stock market debut looms.
As markets closely watch Saudi’s ability to get its industry back on track, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said Saturday that “work is underway” to restore production.
The Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, claimed Saturday’s strikes on two plants owned by state energy giant Aramco.
But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed the finger squarely at Tehran, saying there was no evidence the “unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply” was launched from Yemen.
“The United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression,” the top US diplomat added.
That drew an angry response from Tehran, where foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said: “Such fruitless and blind accusations and remarks are incomprehensible and meaningless.”
The remarks were designed to damage Iran’s reputation and provide a pretext for “future actions” against the Islamic republic, he added.
Baghdad, caught between its two main sponsors — Tehran and Washington — also denied any link to the attacks amid media speculation that the drones were launched from Iraq.
Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose nation is pitted against Iran in a decades-long struggle for regional dominance, has said the kingdom is “willing and able” to respond to this “terrorist aggression”.