- Title: Saudi Aramco says full oil production in Abqaiq will be back by end of September
- Date: 20th September 2019
- Summary: ABQAIQ, SAUDI ARABIA (SEPTEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARAMCO OIL PROCESSING FACILITY IN ABQAIQ JOURNALISTS ON A BUS BEING DRIVEN AROUND THE SITE JOURNALISTS FILMING AND TAKING PHOTOS OF DAMAGED EQUIPMENT DAMAGED EQUIPMENT AT THE SITE VARIOUS OF OIL CONTAINER AND PIPES WORKERS IN HARD HATS ON SITE WORKERS CARRYING OUT REPAIR WORK PEOPLE WORKING AT THE SITE
- Embargoed: 4th October 2019 15:28
- Keywords: Saudi Arabia oil Aramco Iraq
- Location: ABQAIQ, SAUDI ARABIA
- City: ABQAIQ, SAUDI ARABIA
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001AXGQZWN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Saudi Aramco will bring back full oil production capacity at Abqaiq by the end of September, Khalid Buraik, the company's vice-president for southern area oil operations, said on Friday (September 20).
Saudi Arabia took media to inspect oil facilities hit by attacks that Washington and Riyadh blame on Iran, showing melted pipes and burnt equipment, as Tehran vowed wide retaliation if heightened tensions boil over into hostilities.
At Abqaiq, one of the world's largest oil processing plants, reporters saw a punctured, blackened stabilizer tower that Buraik, Saudi Aramco vice-president for southern area oil operations, said would have to be replaced.
As reporters examined a shattered separator dome draped with a red tape labelled "Danger", Buraik said 15 towers and facilities had been hit at Abqaiq.
The kingdom sees the Sept. 14 strikes on its Khurais and Abqaiq facilities -- the worst attack on Gulf oil infrastructure since Iraq's Saddam Hussein torched Kuwaiti oilfields in 1991 -- as a test of global will to preserve international order.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the United States was imposing sanctions on Iran's national bank over the attack. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the bank was Tehran's last source of funds.
Iran denies involvement in the attack, which initially halved oil output from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest petroleum exporter. Responsibility was claimed by Yemen's Houthi movement, an Iran-aligned group fighting a Saudi-led alliance in Yemen's four-year-old conflict.
Iran has warned U.S. President Donald Trump against being dragged into a war in the Middle East and said it would meet any offensive action with a crushing response.
(Production: Martin Veal, Sarah Duffy) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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