Mubasher: Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the world’s oil inventories have sufficient supply to replace the temporarily lost barrels due to the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, according to Reuters.

More than 5% of global oil supply was lost after an attack on two crude processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais, for which the Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed responsibility. This led to the biggest percentage gain for international benchmark Brent crude futures since the 1991 Gulf War to $71.95 per barrel (pb).

The attack has knocked out 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd), according to oil major Saudi Aramco.

Russia is expecting Saudi Arabia to provide estimates of the consequences of the attacks, Novak said.

“But currently, we understand that the world has enough commercial stockpiles to cover the shortage [...] in the mid-term,” Novak was quoted by Reuters.

Moscow would adhere to its commitments under the oil supply-cutting pact with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Novak said, noting that any talk about changes to production levels would be premature.

The Russian minister noted that he planned to have call with his newly appointed Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

By 11:07 am GMT, Brent crude futures soared by 8.77% to $65.50 pb, while US Nymex futures surged by 8.46% to $59.49 pb.