Oil price surges on Saudi protest fears
2011-03-11 16:46:47
Hundreds of police were deployed in the Saudi capital on Friday ahead of planned protests calling for democratic reforms, although the streets were reported to have remained calm.
On Thursday Oil prices surged more than $2 minutes after reports that police in Saudi Arabia had dispersed a demonstration in the city of Qatif, in the country’s oil-rich Eastern province.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, recovered almost all its losses of the day, jumping to $115.6 a barrel, down 33 cents, in a sign of the sensitivity of the oil market to any unrest in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.
Eyewitnesses in Qatif said that police tried to disperse about 300 protesters in the city late Thursday afternoon. When the demonstrators refused to leave eyewitnesses said the police fired on them with rubber bullets and percussion bombs.
Three demonstrators were injured and were later taken to Qatif general hospital, according to protesters.
General Mansour al-Turki, an interior ministry spokesman, said two protesters and one security man were wounded when police tried to break a rally of about 150 protesters in Qatif. The police had shot in the air, and fired “sound bombs” after a fight broke out among the protesters. Demonstrators set fires in four rubbish bins and had been dispersed into side streets.
“The number of protesters were around 150, too small to require shooting to disperse. The police had to shoot in the air to stop the fighting that broke out inside the demonstration,” he said, adding that investigations were under way to determine where the bullets were shot. One victim was shot in the food, another in the hand, said Gen Turki.
There have been a smattering of protests since February 17 in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province, where most of the kingdom’s Shia live. Protesters have been calling for the release of nine prisoners that they said have been held without trial since 1996. A delegation from Qatif held a meeting with King Abdullah on Wednesday to ask for their release but the outcome of the meeting was unclear.
However, Thursday’s demonstrations are thought to have been calling for their release. A “Day of Rage” has been called across Saudi Arabia on Friday.
On Tuesday the government sought to ease tensions by releasing 25 Shia arrested during recent demonstrations. Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amir, a prominent Shia cleric detained after a sermon in which he called for reforms, was also released earlier this week.
Some scholars and experts argue that the ongoing protests in Bahrain could still inspire the Eastern province’s Shia. In addition to the geographic proximity, the communities are culturally close.
Lawrence Eagles, head of oil research at JPMorgan in New York, said in a note to clients that Friday’s Day of Rage protests in Saudi Arabia “could prove a milestone in short-term sentiment” in the oil market.
The Eastern province is home of Saudi Arabia largest oilfields, including Ghawar, the world’s largest, and key oil installations, including the processing center at Qatif, and the Ras Tanura terminal, the world’s largest oil export port.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and controls the bulk of the world’s oil spare capacity. The kingdom has boosted its production above 9m barrels a day to bridge the gap left by the drop in output in Libya, senior Saudi oil officials say.