An unconfirmed explosion at a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline briefly sent crude prices higher on Wednesday but the market shrugged off the scare, signalling once again traders’ concerns over falling demand.
Pictures of the blast at a small domestic pipeline near Riyadh were posted on Twitter, sending prices of North Sea crude up almost $2 within minutes, before the benchmark fell back to its previous trading range. Brent had been trading down around 0.5pc at just over $82 per barrel before the blast.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of crude and has the capacity to pump up to 12.5m barrels per day (bpd) of oil. The kingdom is the most influential member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) as it accounts for about a third of the group’s supplies.
