Missiles strike Iranian oil tanker off Saudi coast

Iran said that one of his tankers in the Red Sea was hit by missiles, the latest in a series of attacks on oil infrastructure in the region, which has shaken energy markets.

Iranian Petroleum Company (NITC), the oil company of the Islamic Republic, He initially said that the attacks probably came from Saudi Arabia, but he then retracted. The incident, which caused an oil spill and a rebound in oil prices of 2.6%, took place several weeks after the devastating attack on Saudi Arabia's main oil facilities that Riyadh attributed to Tehran.

Tensions have steadily increased in the region since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and imposed harsh sanctions on the Islamic Republic. . Although all parties have so far stated that they want to avoid war, the risk of supply is growing in the world's largest oil-producing region.

"The market has been too complacent because we are facing a security incident related to a war," said Helima Croft, chief commodities strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

Sabiti, an oil tanker capable of carrying 1 million barrels per ton of crude oil, was hit near the Saudi port of Jeddah on Friday after being hit by so-called missiles, according to Iranian media reports. The oil tanker explosions occurred between 5:00 am and 5:20 am local time and damaged two of its main oil fields, the Islamic Republican News Agency reported.

A NITC spokesman first said at an appeal to Iran's Press TV that the missiles were probably coming from Saudi Arabia. NITC then withdrew this statement in a statement.

The ship was hit twice within 30 minutes from the east of the Red Sea near her passage, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Abbas Mousavi told Telegram.

After initially stating that the spill had stopped and that the damage had been minimized, the Shana press service of the Iranian Oil Ministry announced that the oil was pouring back into the Red Sea. Nobody provided assistance to the damaged ship, reported the Al-Alam news channel, citing Nasrollah Sardashti, NITC chief.

Iran uses a floating storage for its oil

Oil prices exceeded $ 60 a barrel in London after the attack. Despite the increasing risks of supply in the Middle East, crude oil prices have been eased by fears of an economic slowdown attributable to the US trade dispute. and China Brent remained below its pre-drone and missile attack level of 14 September at Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities in Saudi Arabia last month, which briefly reduced global supplies of 5%, the most serious sudden disturbances. History.

In an interview given to CBS's "60 Minutes" last month, Mohammed Bin Salman, crown prince of the throne of Arabia, warned that the conflict between his country and Iran would result in a "total collapse of the country." "World economy" and should be avoided. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, which gets a significant share of its oil imports from the Persian Gulf, called for moderation on Friday to safeguard peace and stability in the region.

Sabiti was fully loaded with crude oil and headed for the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, according to Florian Thaler, oil strategist at the Signal Ocean vessel tracking company. In previous trips, the ship had shipped Iranian crude to the eastern Mediterranean, he said.

Saudi authorities at the ports confirmed the existence of an incident involving an oil tanker near the port of Jeddah during the night, but could not verify if the ship was Iranian, according to a press officer .