Oil Jumps After Blast Reported at Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq Center Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil climbed the most in a month after al-Arabiya TV said Saudi Arabian forces foiled a suicide attack on the country's Abqaiq processing center, which handles two-thirds of the oil from the world's largest producer.
At least two car bombs were involved in the attack near the Persian Gulf, according to the report. Gunfire was also heard, the TV station said. The center gathers oil from Saudi Arabia's fields and processes crude for export, said Julian Lee, a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies. A halt in Saudi exports would take out 11 percent of the world's oil.
``If this has an impact on exports and production, it would be close to one of the things the industry fears the most,'' said Lee in a telephone interview from London. ``If terrorists are successfully attacking the Saudi oil industry in whatever form, people are going to start worrying a lot.''
Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as $2.06, or 3.4 percent, to $62.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its biggest gain since Jan. 17. It was up $1.71 at 1:53 p.m. London time. Oil is still down 12 percent from August's record $70.85 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia is the only member in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that has spare capacity to compensate for supply disruptions.
