Oil prices rocket on slashed Saudi output

LONDON: Brent crude surged by 20 percent Monday — the biggest gain since the 1991 Gulf War — after weekend drone attacks on two Saudi oil facilities halved output in the world’s top crude exporter, fuelling fresh geopolitical and growth fears.
WTI oil meanwhile soared 15 percent, also after President Donald Trump warned that the US was “locked and loaded” to respond to the attacks that Washington blamed on Iran.
Both key oil contracts pared gains but were still up by more than eight percent around 1030 GMT.
The price surges weighed across world stock markets on fears that a sustained higher cost of crude could further impact weak global economic growth.
But share prices of energy majors jumped, with traders seeing higher profits down the line for the likes of BP and Shell, whose stock won between 3-4 percent Monday.
In foreign exchange, the dollar was down against the euro and yen, while the pound slid as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was holding Brexit deal talks with EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker.