Oil futures bounced back Thursday, finding support after reports Saudi Arabia contacted foreign producers looking for crude as it attempts to fill holes in its supply chain following last weekend’s attacks on the country’s production facilities.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery CLX19, +1.86% on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.42, or 2.4%, to $59.46 a barrel, while November Brent crude BRNX19, +2.42%, the global benchmark, was up $1.81, or 2.8%, at $65.41 a barrel.
Oil futures were boosted after The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia was looking to buy oil and additional oil products from Iraq and possibly other neighbors, including a request for as much as 20 million barrels of oil from Iraq, as it scrambles to maintain its reputation as a reliable supplier after missiles knocked out around half of the country’s crude production over the weekend.
Crude rallied on Monday in the wake of the attacks, but lost ground the next two sessions. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said the country had already restored around half of its lost production. Saudi Arabia said it would restore lost production by the end of the month.
Traders, however, are skeptical of the rosy outlook offered by Saudi officials, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, in a note.
“The Saudis are telling us one thing but industry experts are telling us another on this. It’s not like you can just replace refinery parts overnight,” he said.
In other energy trade, October gasoline RBV19, +2.74% rose 2.9% to $1.7065 a gallon, while November heating oil HOX19, +2.07% was up 2.3% at $2.0153 a gallon.
October natural-gas futures NGV19, -0.80% were off 0.8% at $2.617 per million British thermal units.