Oil Jumps After Attempted Attack on Saudi Processing Plant

Crude oil jumped after Saudi Arabian forces repelled a suicide attack on the Abqaiq processing center, which handles about 7 percent of world supply.

At least two bombs exploded after shooting began outside the complex when guards stopped two cars at the gates, Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said in Riyadh. The occupants were killed and two of the guards were injured, he added. The state oil company, Saudi Aramco, said production and exports weren’t affected.

“This forces us to focus on the worsening security situation in that part of the world,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy risk management at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. A facility such as this is “a very tempting target for any opponent of the regime.”

Crude oil for April delivery jumped $1.86, or 3.1 percent, to $62.40 a barrel at 12:28 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures rose as high as $62.80, the highest since Feb. 10. The April contract is up $1.11, or 1.8 percent, this week. Prices are up 21 percent from a year earlier.

Bloomberg