Drone attacks on Saudi Aramco a huge challenge for Petrobras

Saturday’s drone attacks on a Saudi Aramco oil processing plant—the world’s largest—sent shockwaves through the markets. The attacks, claimed by Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi rebels, knocked global oil supply down by roughly 5 percent, causing the biggest intraday spike in Brent oil prices ever (even greater than after Iran’s 1979 Revolution, the Gulf War, or the September 11 attacks). Oil companies saw their share prices sore—and Brazilian giant Petrobras was no exception. But the market-disrupting attacks are set to create some imminent challenges for the state-owned firm.

Analysts agree that, in the short-term, Petrobras might benefit from the crisis, which has escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with the White House accused Tehran of quarterbacking the drone attacks. As Al Jazeera reports, “the escalation is likely to scupper chances of diplomacy and negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a crumbling nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and world powers.”

Short-term impact for Petrobras

As Felipe Bevilacqua and Eduardo Guimarães, of...