Unfortunately, there have been 58 attacks over the last 4.5 years in the Middle East. The impact of security incidents on oil infrastructure, globally, can be devastating. Energy security will be key to a sustainable future.
With these issues at the forefront, S&P Global Platts has created the interactive Oil Security Sentinel Playbook using intelligent maps and visuals to help the story, exploring the changing relationship between geopolitical risk and the price of crude. This analysis shows how the diversity of supply, higher levels of global spare capacity, and the expansion of strategic petroleum reserves have helped to insulate markets from the risk of supply in the Middle East and beyond.
Data presented in the Platts Oil Security Sentinel™ shows the geographical range of security events spreading across the Arabian Peninsula to the Strait of Hormuz and the eastern coast of the UAE. Since 2017, the Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, and the Bab al Mandab chokepoint have experienced the majority of maritime attacks. A total of 61 incidents have been verified and reported by Platts through September 4, 2021.
Saudi Arabia’s commitment to maintaining at least 2 million b/d of spare capacity plays a critical role in balancing the oil market and prices during periods of stress. Despite the rising number of security incidents recorded since 2017 involving the kingdom's oil infrastructure, disruptions to its exports have been minimized. This resilience underpins Saudi Arabia's status as a stable supplier in a volatile region.
You can explore these trends through a series of interactive and intelligent maps
The kingdom's main Arab Light and Arab Medium crude grade produced from the Ghawar field, the world's largest onshore production site, are most widely consumed grade in Asia. Low-level security events in the kingdom onshore have targeted multiple facilities both upstream and downstream including its East-West pipeline, built to transport crude to petrochemical and refinery plants in Yanbu.
A recent rise in attacks targeting oil infrastructure has brought the spotlight back on energy security
No oil-producing basin is immune to supply disruptions. According to Platts Analytics, the equivalent of approximately 4.12 million b/d of crude has been displaced temporarily due to a mixture of security incidents like attacks, geopolitics, and adverse weather events over the last five years
The Platts Oil Security Sentinel dives deep into how supply disruptions are affecting the global oil market
