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Saudi Arabia oil facilities ablaze after drone strikes

Houthis claim responsibility


Published : 14 Sep 2019 08:45 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 08:51 PM

Houthi rebels in Yemen say they deployed 10 armed drones which hit two large Saudi Aramco oil facilities on Saturday morning, causing massive fires and huge clouds of smoke on the sites. The attack was carried out by the Houthi Air Force, the spokesperson for the Yemeni rebel group, Brigadier Yahya Serai, said on Al Masirah TV, vowing to “expand the operations against the Saudi regime in the future.”

Riyadh acknowledged that its oil facilities were hit by drones but did not immediately name a perpetrator. The authorities said the fires on both sites are under control. Saudi Arabia has led a bombing campaign in Yemen since it intervened in the nation’s civil war in 2015, assisting ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s fight against the Houthi rebels who control the nation’s capital, Sanaa. The campaign placed the Saudis under fire from the UN and international human rights groups, which have repeatedly stated that the airstrikes have caused mass civilian casualties.

It wasn't clear if there were any injuries in the attacks in Buqyaq and the Khurais oil field, nor what effect it would have on oil production in the kingdom. The attack also likely will heighten tensions further across the wider Persian Gulf amid a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers. The Houthis are backed by Tehran amid a yearslong Saudi-led war against them in Yemen.

Saudi state television aired a segment with a correspondent in Buqyaq as smoke from the blazes clearly rose behind. That smoke also was visible from space. The fires began after the sites were "targeted by drones," the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It said an investigation into the attack was underway.

In a short address aired by the Houthi's Al-Masirah satellite news channel, military spokesman Yahia Sarie said the rebels launched 10 drones in their coordinated attack on the sites. He warned attacks by the rebels would only get worse if the war continues. "The only option for the Saudi government is to stop attacking us," Sarie said.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The kingdom hopes soon to offer a sliver of the company in an initial public offering. Saudi Aramco describes its Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqyaq, some 205 miles northeast of the Saudi capital Riyadh, as "the largest crude oil stabilization plant in the world."

Aramco has been meeting bankers this week in Dubai as it speeds up plans to float shares as part of efforts to diversify the economy of the world's top oil exporter away from crude.STRINGER / AFP - Getty Images The facility processes sour crude oil into sweet crude, then later transports onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Estimates suggest it can process up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day. The plant has been targeted in the past by militants.