Wasll Street Journal:

By Summer Said in Dubai, Benoit Faucon in London and Rory Jones in Riyadh

Following a devastating attack on its largest oil-processing facility more than a week ago, Aramco is asking contractors to name their price for patch-ups and restorations. In recent days, company executives have bombarded contractors, including General Electric’s Baker Hughes, with phone calls, faxes and emails seeking emergency assistance, according to Saudi officials and oil-services suppliers in the kingdom.

One Saudi official said costs could run in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Saudi Arabia and the world’s most profitable company are struggling to recover from the attacks, which came within weeks of the Saudi government reviving plans for its on-again, off-again initial public offering of Aramco shares. Now, the IPO, the company’s financial health and the country’s economy may be in danger, say Saudi officials and advisers.

Saudi officials and Aramco executives have been consistent since the attacks, communicating statements aimed at reassuring oil markets that the state-owned company will recover quickly while continuing to supply customers as usual.

On Saturday, Aramco’s Chief Executive Amin Nasser reiterated production would be back to its precrisis level by the end of the month. “Not a single shipment to our international customers has been missed or canceled as a result of the attacks,” he said. The company intends to return to its maximum output capacity by the end of November.

Aramco already has begun shipping equipment from the U.S. and Europe to rebuild damaged facilities, said Fahad al-Abdulkareem, the general manager of southern operations at Aramco.

Saudi officials say there is little sense of calm at the highest levels of the company and the Saudi government, however. It could take some contractors up to a year to manufacture, deliver and install made-to-measure parts and equipment, the Saudi officials and the oil contractor said.

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