Saudi oil sites targeted in drone attack
Kingdom insists no disruption to production or exports as Brent rises
Two Saudi Arabian oil pumping stations along a pipeline were targeted in a drone attack on Tuesday morning, the kingdom’s energy minister said.
The incident comes shortly after Yemeni Houthi rebels said they launched attacks on vital installations in the kingdom and a day after Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were among those hit off the coast of the UAE on Sunday.
Energy minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement that the attack resulted in a fire in one of the stations in the central region, leaving limited damage after the blaze was controlled.
State oil company Saudi Aramco has suspended operations on an east-west pipeline that transfers crude from the kingdom’s Eastern Province to Yanbu port on the Red Sea coast while the damage is being assessed.
The kingdom said oil production and exports from the country are continuing without disruptions. Still Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 78 cents to $71 a barrel.
A television station run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Tuesday cited an official as saying the Iran-backed group had launched a drone attack on vital Saudi installations without providing details.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns this cowardly attack,” Mr Falih said, adding that “these attacks prove again that it is important for us to face terrorist entities, including the Houthi militias in Yemen that are backed by Iran”.
A spokesman for Saudi State Security said authorities were investigating the drone strike.