US says committed to well-supplied oil markets after attack on Saudi plants

“The United States strongly condemns today’s attack on critical energy infrastructure,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. 

Deere confirmed that US President Donald Trump had spoken earlier on Saturday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Trump administration is prepared to tap US emergency oil reserves if necessary after drone attacks shut oil output in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, a Department of Energy spokeswoman said.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry “stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets as a result of this act of aggression,” spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said.

Perry directed department leaders to work with the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) “on potential available options for collective global action if needed,” Hynes said.

A spokesman for Yemen's Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on Saturday that “The Air Force carried out an operation, dubbed ‘Operation Balance of Deterrence 2’, of a 10-drone squadron on two Saudi Aramco plants in Abqaiq and Khurais.”

“The targeting of Abqaiq and Khurais plants comes within the framework of the legitimate and natural response to the crimes of the Saudi aggression,” Alahed quoted him as saying.

Saudi Aramco is the state-owned oil enterprise which operates and controls the majority of the kingdom's refinery production and oilfields.

The development comes as the United States has been a staunch supporter of Saudi Arabia's war campaign against civilians in Yemen since March 2015. According to reports, the  war has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years. It has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen's infrastructure.

ZZ/PR