Saudi Arabia says it won’t be held responsible for global oil shortages

Saudi Arabia says it won’t be held responsible for global oil shortages

Saudi Arabia has said it will not be held responsible for shortages in the global energy market as it warned on Monday that missile attacks on oil installations by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen will disrupt supply.

There has been pressure on Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, to produce more oil to ease market volatility in the wake of the Russian assault on Ukraine. But Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its neighbour and ally, have so far rebuffed US and UK calls to boost production. Prices for Brent crude — the international benchmark — rose more than 3 per cent on Monday to a high of $113 a barrel.

In a statement published by official media on Monday, the kingdom said: “Saudi Arabia announces that it will not bear responsibility for any petroleum shortages in global markets in light of the attacks on its installations by the terrorist Houthi militias.”

The statement by the Saudi foreign ministry came a day after successive missile and drone attacks on energy facilities in the kingdom. One of the strikes on a Saudi Aramco distribution centre in Jeddah set off a fire in a storage tank. The Houthis have claimed responsibility and vowed