The barrel of crude loses more than 6% on hopes of resumption of Saudi production

London (AFP)

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after press reports said Saudi production could be restored within two to three weeks, after last night's record surge.

Around 1430 GMT (16:30 in Paris), the barrel of Brent North Sea dropped 6.42% to 64.63 dollars in London, and that of WTI tumbled 6.22% to 59.02 dollars in New York .

"Information has just come out (...) that the production of the kingdom should return much faster than previously anticipated," said John Kilduff, analyst at Again Capital.

Half of Saudi production, or 5 percent of global production, was out of order after a drone attack on Saturday sparked fires at two oilfields in the east of the country.

After the attack on the world's largest exporter of black gold, crude prices had flamed Monday by almost 15% in London, unheard of.

The attack woke up the fear of a military escalation between the United States and Iran, which the former accuse of being at the origin of the attack, despite the announcement of Houthi rebels of Yemen that they took responsibility.

© 2019 AFP