Saudi oil facilities targeted in missile and drone attack
- Attack targeting heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels
- In 2019, aerial assaults on two Aramco facilities temporarily knocked out half kingdom’s crude production
Saudi Arabia said one of the most protected crude facilities in the world came under missile attack, in a clear escalation of hostilities that sent oil prices surging.
The drone and missile attacks on Sunday were intercepted and crude production appeared to be unaffected. But the latest in a spate of assaults claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels sent oil prices above US$70.
On Sunday, the Saudi Energy Ministry said a storage tank in the Ras Tanura export terminal in the country’s Gulf coast was attacked by a drone from the sea. Shrapnel from a missile also landed near a residential compound for employees of national oil company Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. Witnesses reported an explosion rocking the city, and windows shaking.
“Both attacks did not results in any injury or loss of life or property,” said a spokesman for the Saudi Energy Ministry. A person familiar with the situation also said oil output was unaffected.
Ras Tanura is the world’s largest oil terminal, capable of exporting roughly 6.5 million barrels a day – nearly 7 per cent of oil demand – and as such one of the world’s most protected installations. The port includes a large storage tank farm where crude is kept before it’s pumped into supertankers.