Oil markets at risk from terror hit: experts

PARIS (AFP) – With oil prices already stretched to record highs, a terrorist attack targeting vital oil installations would have immediate global consequences, experts say.

Wells, pipelines, refineries and tankers have all been targeted in recent years by Al-Qaeda-linked groups, or by local armed militants such as in the Niger Delta — and many remain poorly protected against potential attacks.

On February 24, Saudi security forces foiled an attack on oil installations in Abqaiq, which account for 70 percent of the country’s output, and 10 percent of the world’s, sending jitters through the oil sector.

According to Gal Luft, head of the US-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), the attack — had it succeeded — would have cut four to six million barrels per day out of an already tight oil market.

AFP