Tuesday 17 September 2019 10:10 am | Updated: Tuesday 17 September 2019 10:23 am

Oil prices steady after Saudi attacks sparked record rise

Spokesman of the Saudi-led military coalition Colonel Turki al-Maliki speaks during a press conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on September 16, 2019. – The weapons used to strike two Saudi oil plants were provided by the kingdom’s arch-foe Iran, the spokesman of the Riyadh-led coalition fighting in Yemen said. The Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, where a coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, claimed the September 14 strikes on two facilities in Saudi Arabia, owned by state energy giant Aramco, which sent shock waves across oil markets. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

Oil prices steadied this morning after markets shouldered a massive shock yesterday when prices rocketed at their fastest rate ever.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, was more or less unchanged at $69 per barrel this morning.

Yesterday’s shock came after a series of drone attacks on Saudi oil refineries knocked out around five per cent of global production. Brent rose as much as 20 per cent on the news – its biggest ever one-day gain.

Fingers from the US and Saudi Arabia have pointed to Iran. However Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Today Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country would not hold one-on-one talks with the US. However he is open to multilateral discussions to return to the 2015 nuclear deal which the US tore up last year.

Markets are today trying to figure out the scale of the attack, and how long it will take for state-oil company Saudi Aramco to get production back up and running.

The supply itself has not been impacted in the short term as a number of countries, the US and Saudi Arabia among them, announced plans to dip into their reserves if needed.

US energy secretary Rick Perry today said that the US is monitoring the situation.

“The President has directed me to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve if that is needed to offset any potential disruptions,” Perry said.

“But looking at the supply numbers we are confident that the markets remain well supplied.”

Yesterday’s hike in oil prices sent oil producers up on the stock markets, while airlines and cruise operators – big users of fuel – fell.

However, London-listed Wizz Air this morning said that it had hedged its fuel position over the summer more than usual, and is in a better place than expected to withstand the effects of the price rise.