London/New York: Oil extended declines as Saudi Arabia was said to be ahead of schedule in restoring its output capacity.
Futures lost as much as 2.9% in New York to the lowest level in more than a week. Saudi Aramco’s production capacity now exceeds 11 million barrels a day, beating a self-imposed deadline by about a week, according to people with knowledge of the situation. It has now restored production at the Abqaiq and Khurais oil processing facilities to the levels they were operating at before recent attacks.
Aerial strikes on the two plants on 14 September disabled 5% of global crude supply, driving Brent crude higher by the most on record. Prices have since pulled back as Aramco — formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co. — has promised it will return all lost production by the end of this month, despite skepticism from consultants including Rystad Energy AS and FGE.
