Saudi’s oil supply to the world could be cut in HALF as production of FIVE MILLION barrels is disrupted after Iran-backed militants launched drone strike on two processing plants as tensions reach boiling point following tanker attacks
Drone attacks sparked fires at Aramco oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia today
Attacks took place at 4:00am at world’s largest oil processing plant Abqaiq
The Saudi interior ministry said the fires have now been brought under control
Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks in Buqyaq and Khurais
Sources said oil production was affected; one said 5m barrels were impacted
Tensions are running high in the region after attacks in June and July on oil tankers in Gulf waters that Riyadh and Washington blamed on Iran
By HENRY MARTIN
DAILYMAIL.COM
14 September 2019
Ten drones launched by Iran-backed militants that sparked a huge fire at the world’s largest oil processing facility and a major oilfield in Saudi Arabia could have severely disrupted the country’s production.
The fires at Abqaiq in Buqayq, which contains the world’s largest oil processing plant, and Khurais, which contains the country’s second largest oilfield, have now been brought under control since the drone attacks at 4.00am local time.
Three sources close to the matter told the Reuters news agency oil production and exports had been affected, with one source saying 5million barrels per day of crude production had been impacted – close to half the kingdom’s output.
Tensions are running high in the region after attacks in June and July on oil tankers in Gulf waters that Riyadh and Washington blamed on Iran.
A military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, considered an Iranian proxy force in the region, has claimed responsibility for today’s attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two major facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia run by state-owned oil giant Aramco.
Houthi fighters in Yemen have previously launched attacks over the border, hitting Shaybah oilfield with drones last month and two oil pumping stations in May. Both attacks caused fires but did not disrupt production.
Yahia Sarie announced that the Houthi’s were taking responsibility for the attacks on Saturday in a televised address carried by the Houthi’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel.
He said the Houthis sent 10 drones to attack an oil processing facility in Buqyaq and the Khurais oil field, warning that attacks by the rebels against the kingdom would only get worse if the war in Yemen continues.
Sarie said: ‘The only option for the Saudi government is to stop attacking us.’
Iran denies supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the U.N., the West and Gulf Arab nations say Tehran does. Drone models nearly identical to those used by Iran have been used in the conflict in Yemen.
The attacks highlight how the increasingly advanced weaponry of the Iran-linked Huthi rebels – from ballistic missiles to unmanned drones – poses a serious threat to oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter.
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