Saudi Arabia oil facilities ablaze after drone strikes

Gordon_R

Gordon_R

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Asymmetric war can get expensive: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49699429
Drone attacks have set alight two major oil facilities run by the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia, state media say.

Footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco's largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.

The fires are now under control at both facilities, state media said.

A spokesman for the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said it had deployed 10 drones in the attacks.

The military spokesman told al-Masirah TV, owned by the Houthi movement and based in Beirut, that further attacks could be expected in the future.

Saudi officials have not yet commented on who could be behind the attacks.

"At 04:00 (01:00 GMT), the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of... drones," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

"The two fires have been controlled."
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The Abqaiq plant turns sour crude into sweet crude, producing up to 7 million barrels a day. Aramco says it is the world's largest "crude oil stabilisation plant".

Saudi security forces foiled an attempt by al-Qaeda to attack the Abqaiq facility with suicide bombers in 2006.
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The Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement has been fighting the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been at war since 2015, when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the capital Sanaa by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backs President Hadi, and has led a coalition of regional countries against the rebels.

The coalition launches air strikes almost every day, while the Houthis often fire missiles into Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi military spokesman told al-Masirah that operations against Saudi targets would expand "as long as its aggression continues".
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Video embedded in link.
 
Grant

Grant

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jirre v0k salman bin abdulaziz al saud !

this is going to be interesting

/goes to buy barrel 'o popcorn
 
Polymathic

Polymathic

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Now we know why Iran was flying drones into Israeli airspace several times over the past year.

I blame Obama, he's the one that opened this Pandora's box. Just a matter of time before Kim starts sending drones into S. Korean and Japanese airspace.
 
rietrot

rietrot

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We're in for interesting times when these guys stop useing proxy armies and killing innocent Yemmen children and start the real thing
 
rietrot

rietrot

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With all the green, global warming talk isn't it a bit silly to still be fighting for control of the oil?
 
U

upup

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wonder how big these drones are, and how far they can fly.
 
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genetic

genetic

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And no doubt local fools will blame the ANC for the latest skyrocket in fuel hikes.
 
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neoprema

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Sky news quoting someone saying they were "commercially obtainable drones" modified to fly further and carry increased payloads (i.e explosives)

I'm guessing bigger than your average DJI? maybe a hexacopter.
 
Gordon_R

Gordon_R

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Oil production impacted: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49703143
Saudi Arabia's oil production has been severely disrupted by drone attacks on two major oil facilities run by state-owned company Aramco, reports say.

Sources quoted by Reuters and WSJ said the strikes had reduced production by five million barrels a day - nearly half the kingdom's output.
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The Khurais oilfield produces about 1% of the world's oil, and Abqaiq is the company's largest facility - with the capacity to process 7% of the global supply. Even a brief or partial disruption could affect the company, and the oil supply, given their size.

There was a sharp intake of breath as analysts I spoke to today digested the information that reports suggest that half of Saudi Arabia's oil production could have been knocked offline by these attacks.

The country produces 10% of the world's crude oil. Cutting this in half could have a significant effect on the oil price come Monday when markets open.
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The growing sophistication of the Houthis' drone operations is bound to renew the debate as to where this capability comes from. Have the Houthis simply weaponised commercial civilian drones or have they had significant assistance from Iran?

The Trump administration is likely to point the finger squarely at Tehran, but experts vary in the extent to which they think Iran is facilitating the drone campaign.

The Saudi air force has been pummelling targets in Yemen for years. Now the Houthis have a capable, if much more limited, ability to strike back. It shows that the era of armed drone operations being restricted to a handful of major nations is now over.
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TysonRoux

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www.brookings.edu

Who are the Houthis, and why are we at war with them?

For over two and a half years, the United States has supported Saudi Arabia in a war against the Houthi movement in Yemen. The war has created the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world and threatens to turn into the largest famine in decades. Yet very few Americans know who the Houthis are.
www.brookings.edu www.brookings.edu

Tehran and the Houthis are playing with fire, of course. If a missile hits Riyadh, Jeddah, or Abu Dhabi and kills dozens or more, the pressure for retaliation against Iran will be significant. The Trump administration is poorly designed to provide cooling counsel.
 
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