Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura, which houses its largest domestic refinery and a key crude export terminal, was hit again on Wednesday by an unidentified projectile. Two days ago, a source said the refinery was closed after a drone attack on the complex.
According to the government news agency, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said that initial indications showed that the Ras Tanura refinery was attacked by a drone and it caused no damage. The agency also quoted a source in the Energy Ministry as saying that there was no interruption in the supply.
Saudi Arabia and other regional Gulf oil producers, such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, have been unable to send oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Friday.
Hundreds of ships have anchored on both sides of the strait as a precaution, and Iran has said it will open fire on any ship that tries to pass through the shipping choke point.
Ras Tanura is on the east coast of Saudi Arabia in the Gulf. Sources have said that Aramco is trying to divert some of its crude exports to the Red Sea to avoid the strait. Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Houthis attacked Ras Tanura
Saudi Arabia’s heavily fortified energy facilities have been targeted before, most notably in September 2019 when unprecedented drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants briefly halted more than half the country’s crude production and sent global markets into turmoil.
In 2021, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis attacked Ras Tanura, in what Riyadh called a failed attack on global energy security.