President Donald Trump said Sunday US is "locked and loed" to respond to an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure that Washington has blamed on Iran, as Riyh raced to restart operations at plants hit by drone attacks. It is first time president has hinted at a potential American military response to attack, which slashed Saudi oil production by half and led both kingdom and United States to anunce y may tap ir strategic reserves. "Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. re is reason to believe that we kw culprit, are locked and loed depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from Kingdom as to who y believe was cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!" Trump tweeted.

US 'Locked and Loed': Trump

RE | Trump may meet Rouhani despite US accusing Iran for Aramco attacks

US blames Iran for Aramco attack

Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, claimed Saturday's strikes on two plants owned by state energy giant Aramco. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed finger squarely at Tehran, saying re was evidence "unprecedented attack on world's energy supply" was launched from Yemen. " United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression," top US diplomat said. That drew an angry response from Tehran, where foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said: "Such fruitless and blind accusations and remarks are incomprehensible and meaningless." remarks were designed to dam Iran's reputation and provide a pretext for "future actions" against Islamic republic, he ded.

RE | US State Secretary Pompeo blames Iran for attacks on Aramco refineries

Iraq denies involvement

Baghd, caught between its two main allies -- Tehran and Washington -- also denied any link to attacks amid media speculation that drones were launched from Iraq. Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said kingdom is "willing and able" to respond to this "terrorist aggression." But a tit-for-tat strike on Iranian oil fields is "highly unlikely," Middle East expert James Dorsey told AFP. " Saudis do t want an open conflict with Iran. Saudis would like ors to fight that war, and ors are reluctant," said Dorsey, from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Inste, kingdom focused on restoring production at plants, as Saudi bourse slumped three percent when week's tring began on Sunday morning.

RE | Saudi Arabia Minister: Production halted in Aramco oil refineries

Aramco attack and consequences

Saturday's explosions set off fires that engulfed Abqaiq plant, world's largest oil processing facility, and nearby Khurais, which hosts a massive oil field. Saudi's energy infrastructure has been hit by Huthis many times before, but this strike was of a different order, abruptly halting 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) or about six percent of world's oil supply. " genie is out of bottle," said Bill Farren-Price, director of London-based RS Energy Group. "It is w clear that Saudi and or Gulf oil facilities are vulnerable to this kind of attack, which means that geopolitical risk premium for oil needs to rise." casualties were reported but full extent of dam was t clear, r of weapons used, and reporters were kept away from plants amid beefed-up security. Aramco also said it will dip into its reserves to offset disruption.

RE | Houthi rebels claim drone attack on Saudi Aramco oil refineries

Reserve supplies tapped

On Saturday, CEO Amin Nasser said that "work is underway" to restore production, but incident could affect investor confidence ahe of Aramco's stock market debut. A significant volume of oil production can be restored within days but company would need weeks to reach full output again, Bloomberg News reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources. Trump tweeted that he h "authorised release of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if needed, in a to-be-determined amount." president also "informed all appropriate ncies to expedite approvals of oil pipelines currently in permitting process in Texas and various or States," without naming specific projects. Following a phone call between Trump and Prince Mohammed, White House condemned attacks on "infrastructure vital to global ecomy."

US-Iran ties 

Tehran and Washington have been at loggerhes since May last year, when Trump pulled US out of a landmark 2015 deal with world powers that promised Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Despite US accusation, White House said on Sunday Trump may still meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani at upcoming United Nations assembly. Saudi Arabia has spent billions on military hardware but recent events have underscored vulnerability of its infrastructure to attack. Huthis have std repeated cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi air bases and or facilities in what y say is retaliation for Riyh-led bombing campaign on rebel-held areas in Yemen.