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The attack on oil producer Saudi Aramco's processing facility in the east of the kingdom saw crude surge more than 14 per cent on Monday, about as much as it did when Iraq invaded Kuwait before the 1991 Gulf War.

"Saudi Arabia seeks a return of production levels as soon as possible, preferably within the next two weeks, to compensate for the lack of supply to the world markets," the source told °®Âþµº.

"The kingdom knows that the return of production from the facilities that were attacked will not take place for a number of months, and so it is working hard to provide alternative sources of production as quickly as possible to make up for the acute shortage of supplies," the source added.

Saturday's attack led to a 5 percent drop in global output, but Riyadh claims it would be restored by the end of the month.

On Tuesday, the kingdom said oil output will return to normal by the end of September, seeking to soothe rattled energy markets after attacks on two instillations that slashed its production by half.

The weekend strikes on Abqaiq - the world's largest oil processing facility - and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia roiled energy markets and revived fears of a conflict in the tinderbox Gulf region.

Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure has been hit before, but Saturday's attack was of a different scale, abruptly halting half the OPEC kingpin's output - some six percent of the world's oil supply.

The US has pointed the finger of blame at Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran.

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