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.