Ryad (AFP)

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, is expected to restore Monday, according to experts, at least a third of the production lost due to Saturday's attacks on oil facilities, a challenge for the kingdom to reassure investors.

While Ryad has been at the head of an armed coalition in Yemen against the Houthi rebels since 2015, the kingdom's energy infrastructure has already been targeted in the recent past, particularly in May and August.

But Saturday's attacks on the Abqaiq plant and the Khurais field in the east are of another scale: they have cut the Saudi output by half, to 5.7 million barrels per day, about 6% of the world's supply.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Salman, Sunday inspected the damage and said the kingdom would use its vast stocks to partially offset the loss of production. The United States has also authorized the use of their reserves.

However, oil prices jumped on Monday, accusations against Iran fueling new geopolitical fears. Around 08:45 GMT, oil was + 8.62%, to 65.41 dollars in London, where is quoted the barrel of Brent North Sea.

In this context, China has urged Iran and the United States to "restrain", following Washington's accusations that Tehran is responsible for Saturday's attacks.

The Energy Intelligence newsletter assured him, citing industrial sources, that the Saudi giant Aramco was "about to restore up to 40%" of lost production, about 2.3 million barrels a day.

- Millions of barrels -

Quoting sources close to the record, the Wall Street Journal has on its side advanced that it would take weeks to restore full production capacity.

However, one of these sources said: "We should be able to put (on the market) two million barrels a day" by Monday.

The consulting firm Energy Aspects also estimated that the country would be able to restore nearly half of the production lost Monday.

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that it will provide an update within 48 hours on the attacks, and all eyes are turned on an official communication that could reassure the markets.

On Monday, Saudi television Al-Arabiya said that Aramco was ready to restart operations in Khurais, which processes 1.5 million barrels a day.

As a heavyweight of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia pumps 9.9 million barrels per day, or nearly 10% of world demand, of which seven million barrels per day are destined for the world. 'export.

The kingdom also has an unused capacity of about two million barrels a day that it can use in times of crisis.

If Yemeni rebels Houthis backed by Iran have claimed these destructive attacks, Ryad has not yet accused any party. In contrast, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directly blamed Iran. The Islamic Republic categorically denied.

The Saudi authorities are all the more eager to revive their production as soon as these attacks could undermine the confidence of investors in Aramco, a giant preparing its IPO.

This operation was delayed several times, in particular because of unfavorable market conditions.

Ryad hopes to raise $ 100 billion by selling 5% of its capital, based on a valuation of the entire company to $ 2 trillion.

This IPO is the cornerstone of a reform plan called "Vision 2030", launched by the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy of the kingdom.

© 2019 AFP