Saudi Arabia joins US-led maritime coalition
Saudi Arabia announced earlier today that it joined a US-led coalition to secure the Mideast's waterways amid threats from Iran after an attack targeting its crucial oil industry.
The kingdom's decision to join the International Maritime Security Construct came ahead of a planned visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Saudi officials separately planned to share information about the weapons used to attack a Saudi oil field and the world's largest crude oil processing plant Saturday.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said yesterday evening that 50 percent of the production cut by the attack on its oil processing plant has been restored.
The attack struck a Saudi oil field and the world's largest crude oil processing plant, knocking out 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production per day for the kingdom, or about 5 percent of the world's daily production.
The prince added that within this month, production capacity will be up to 11 million barrels per day by the end of September. It had been around 9.6 million barrels per day before the attack.
