An attempted Houthi missile and drone strike on a Saudi Aramco facility in Dhahran did not cause any loss of life or damage to property, but initial concern over the attack caused oil’s price to spike on international indices before paring back those gains, Saudi authorities said.
The target was the oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, site of a refinery and the world’s biggest offshore oil loading facility, and a residential compound in Dhahran used by state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco, according to Reuters. According to that report, the Saudi defense ministry said it “had intercepted an armed drone coming from the sea before it could hit its target at Ras Tanura. Shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near the residential compound used by Aramco.”
Ras Tanura is one of the largest oil shipping ports in the world.
The attack caused international benchmark Brent crude futures to jump above $70 for the first time in more than a year on Monday, before settling in below $70.
Saudi Arabia’s government called the attack a failed assault on global energy security.
The attack seemed similar to a previous attack by Iran on Saudi oil facilities in September 2019. That attack was successful. Drones struck two key oil installations inside Saudi Arabia, damaging facilities. The United States said evidence and analysis of weapons debris recovered from that attack on Sept. 14, 2019 indicated the strike likely came from the north, not from the south where Houthi forces with Iran backing would be capable of attempting such a strike. Those findings reinforced the U.S. assessment that Iran was behind the offensive. Saudi Arabian officials stated that the attacks forced the shutdown of the facilities, cutting the country’s oil production from 9.8 to about 4.1 million barrels of oil a day, losing 5.7 million barrels of oil a day or about 5% of global production.
The United States said on Monday it is committed to defending Saudi Arabia and its territory from adversaries, including the Yemen-based Houthis, who are financed and armed by Iran.
The United States said on Monday it is committed to defending Saudi Arabia.
“The heinous Houthi assaults on civilians and vital infrastructure demonstrate lack of respect for human life and disregard for peace efforts,” the U.S. embassy in the kingdom said in an Arabic-language Twitter post.
“The United States stands by Saudi Arabia and its people. Our commitment to defend the Kingdom and its security is firm.”
