MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2019) Saudi Aramco is holding urgent negotiations with producers of equipment and service providers, offering them higher payments, to resume operations after the recent attacks on its oil facilities as soon as possible, but it still could take months, media reported on Sunday, citing Saudi officials and contractors.
Saudi Aramco is appealing to contractors, including General Electric Company, for assistance in restoring operations, The Wall Street Journal reported. The media noted that payments for services could amount to millions of Dollars.
According to media's sources, the full restoration of the company's activities might take months, and not ten weeks, as promised company's executives previously.
In the early hours of September 14, a drone attack targeted Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq and Khurais oil installations, forcing the national oil company to shut them down. This resulted in a more than twofold drop in Saudi Arabia's daily net oil output. Although responsibility for the attack was claimed by the military wing of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, the United States and Saudi Arabia have put the blame on Iran.
On Wednesday, the Saudi Defense Ministry held a press conference to present what it described as evidence of Iran's involvement in the attacks. Tehran has refuted the accusations.
