Rick Perry says it's too early to say if US oil reserves are needed

State Secretary for Energy Rick Perry told CNBC on Monday that it was too early to say whether the United States will need to use its emergency crude reserves to make up for it. rising oil prices resulting from drone strikes on oil processing plants in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

"I think we're still a bit premature to comment on … whether the RPS will be needed or not until we have a clear idea of ​​how long this facility will be down." Perry said "Squawk on the street."

The attack hit an oil processing facility at Abqaiq and the nearby Khurais oilfield, dropping production by 5.7 million barrels a day, or half the daily volume of Abqaiq. In response, President Donald Trump authorized the oil spill from the strategic oil reserve, the country's emergency oil reserve, when needed to stabilize crude prices.

"I think the Saudis are already saying that they will be able to recover a third of this production before the close of business today," said Perry. "There is going to be a tip, but again, I want to be very clear about the fact that the market has a fairly large amount of available oil," referring to global reserves.

The international benchmark, Brent futures, climbed 19.5% to $ 71.95 a barrel at opening, the largest intra-day increase never recorded.

"This has definitely disrupted and let people know you have bad actors in the world and you have to tackle the security side," said the secretary.

Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was one of their biggest attacks ever in the kingdom. The United States, however, has accused Iran of drone attacks on the facilities.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday in a tweet that Iran had launched an "unprecedented attack on global energy supplies".

Perry said: "The time has come for a coalition of energy-producing and energy-consuming countries and energy-consuming countries to come together and put an end to the evil activities of the country. # 39; Iran. "