US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States would benefit from its strategic oil reserves “if needed” in the wake of the attacks on oil sites in Saudi Arabia. “I have also informed all appropriate agencies to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States,” the US president said.
The weekend attack could disrupt an estimated 5.7 million barrels of oil per day, or more than 5 percent of the world’s daily supply. Oil prices rose more than 10% late Sunday.
Trump’s announcement followed a meeting of the National Security Council with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper at the White House. “Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked,” the president wrote on Twitter, and the United States is awaiting investigations from Saudi Arabia over who was behind the attack.
The decision comes a day after a drone attack hit the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry. The Trump administration has placed responsibility on Iran.
Iran has reacted forcefully to US accusations of ” maximum lies” and threatened that its forces could strike US military bases in the Middle East. Pompeo then issued two tweets blaming Tehran – without evidence – although the Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility.
Lawmakers, such as Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Adam Schiff of California, backed Pompeo’s allegations. ” I think Secretary Pompeo’s statements yesterday were absolutely right,” Cheney said. “I think it’s very clear this was the Iranians.”
“I think it’s safe to say that the Houthis don’t have the capability to do a strike like this without Iranian assistance,” Schiff said.
Before President Trump’s announcement, the Energy Department said it was ready to take advantage of strategic oil reserves if needed to compensate for any disruptiond.
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