Oil prices down as Saudi Arabia's supply concerns ease

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Oil prices were down early Tuesday as investors' worries eased with news that Saudi Arabia is expected to restore full production by next week.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $64.29 per barrel at 0624 GMT for a 0.25% decline after closing Monday at $64.45 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $58.32 a barrel at the same time for a 0.07% loss after ending the previous session at $58.36 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia's oil production was down by 5.7 million barrels per day (mbpd) due to drone attacks on its two major oil facilities. Since then the kingdom has restored around three-quarters of this volume, according to the latest news reports.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Sept. 17. that output from national oil company, Saudi Aramco, will be fully back online by the end of September.

The kingdom's oil production will reach 11 mbpd by the end of this month, and will continue to rise to 12 mbpd by the end of November, bin Salman said last week.