Saudi Arabia oil facilities ablaze after drone strikes

[Gordon_R]

Interesting article on exactly how much damage was done. This was a highly targeted operation: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49775849

Twisted, buckled and blackened by fire, the heavily damaged separation tower at Khurais oil field stands testimony to one of the most devastating attacks on a country's critical infrastructure in modern times.

The structure is just one of 19 targets hit by a wave of incoming missiles and explosive-laden drones in the early hours of last Saturday morning. Both Saudi Arabia and the US have blamed the attack squarely on Iran, which denies it and which had threatened retaliation if it were to suffer a punitive strike.

Whoever chose these targets knew exactly what they were doing and programmed the GPS co-ordinates with pinpoint precision. It was plain to see where the projectiles had hit the separation towers (where the oil and gas are separated out), the large spheroid containers that drain off the water, and various other pieces of steel superstructure, all essential for stabilising the crude oil ready for export.

Processing Saudi Arabia's natural resource and dispatching it to overseas markets in Europe and Asia is the lifeblood of the Saudi economy. So, billions of dollars have been spent over the decades in providing this country with state-of-the-art defences. And yet those defences were easily penetrated by these relatively cheap weapons. It's still not clear exactly who fired them and from where.

When al-Qaeda tried to send an explosive-laden truck into the oil complex at Abqaiq in 2006, it was immediately stopped at the perimeter. But this attack was of a totally different magnitude. It took the Saudis - and their US allies - completely by surprise, penetrating the security cordon and temporarily knocking out roughly half Saudi Arabia's processing capacity, sending global oil markets reeling.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, says full capacity should be restored by the end of September. But unspoken here is the fear that such an attack could yet be repeated.

Edit: Brief video of damage: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-49782930/saudi-arabia-oil-attacks-a-look-at-the-damage

 

[Jabulani22]

Recovered drones look like harpy drones that israel uses , must be coincedence.

 

[TysonRoux]

Recovered drones look like harpy drones that israel uses , must be coincedence.

Where's the link to the drone debris for the comparison?

Edit: Pretty hard to find a resemblance from that debris.

 

[Jabulani22]

Where's the link to the drone debris for the comparison?

Found a few pics spread over the bbc/cnbc basically all major news outlets.

 

[Jabulani22]

Found this , as a way to show similarities , ofcourse both sides could own many variants.

 

[TysonRoux]

Found this , as a way to show similarities , ofcourse both sides could own many variants.

Looking at the news media images, I find it difficult to match the debris to either of those.

 

[Jabulani22]

Looking at the news media images, I find it difficult to match the debris to either of those.

I could be persuaded by the images in a certain direction .
I guess we could also go on who is more likely to have attacked and why but that would lead into conspiracy waters.

 

[ArmatageShanks]

Interesting article on exactly how much damage was done. This was a highly targeted operation: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49775849

Daar is my donnerse vadoek.

 

[Gordon_R]

US forces to strengthen anti-missile defences: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49777672

The multiple drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil installations have exposed a major gap in its defences. Now the US, its strategic ally, has offered to help plug that gap.

A US Navy destroyer is being stationed in the northern Gulf to intercept any missiles coming from that direction. The Pentagon has also announced a further deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia to help the country bolster its anti-missile defences.

Further US defensive equipment is being sent to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid the ongoing tensions with their neighbour, Iran.

 

[Nanfeishen]

Where's the link to the drone debris for the comparison?

Edit: Pretty hard to find a resemblance from that debris.

Also interesting that the alleged Iranian cruise missile remains on display carry the designations MC-79050 and MC -79055 respectively with no evidence of Arabic writing or symbols.

 

[Grant]

Also interesting that the alleged Iranian cruise missile remains on display carry the designations MC-79050 and MC -79055 respectively with no evidence of Arabic writing or symbols.

i noticed that as well

dont trust the arabs
dont trust the yankees
dont trust the isreali's
least of all, the home of taqiya - iran

 

[Gordon_R]

Also interesting that the alleged Iranian cruise missile remains on display carry the designations MC-79050 and MC -79055 respectively with no evidence of Arabic writing or symbols.

The lettering might be Cyrillic, the original cruise missile was manufactured in the Ukraine. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quds_1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soumar_(missile)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-55

Edit: Those images are dated 14 May 2019, and may be unrelated.

 

[Nanfeishen]

The lettering might be Cyrillic, the original cruise missile was manufactured in the Ukraine. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quds_1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soumar_(missile)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-55

Edit: Those images are dated 14 May 2019, and may be unrelated.

Yep , read theose articles, quite interesting , also saw the arms display that the Houthi's held in July 2019 with the Quds on display.

Images: Unveiling New Missile and UAVs by Yemen Armed Forces and Ansar Allah

ISWNews Analysis Group: Yemeni Armed Forces exhibition titled Shahid Saleh Al-Sammad was opened with presence of Mahdi Al-Mashat, Head of the Yemeni High Political Council and other Yemeni army high ranking officials.

www.english.iswnews.com

The Houthis have a home grown arms industry , which is a far cry from the way they are often portrayed on MSM as being "rebels or insurgents"

Houthis' New Missiles & Combat Drones Revealed

On July 7, Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) held a military exhibition displaying their new weapon systems, including...

maps.southfront.org

 

[falcon786]

US forces to strengthen anti-missile defences: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49777672

Very interesting....so let's see who stands to gain the most from this?

I find it interesting that the USA comes out sitting very pretty in all this,they get to escalate their sanctions against IRAN and now they provide protection for Saudi which means more browny points for them and hey look they're gonna suggest Saudi buy new military defenses from them which will probably cost billions of Dollars....hmmm...suddenly the viewpoint by somebody here that the drones resemble Israeli drones doesn't seem that whacky anymore.

 

[Grant]

Very interesting....so let's see who stands to gain the most from this?


[/QUOTE
whoever that may be, it will be at the will of allah

 

[FrankCastle]

I noticed Trump said the sanctions are aimed at the IRGC and the spiritual leadership of Ali Khamenei who himself has a strong military background. Dont think Hassan Rouhani has a say.
Politically this could've been resolved long ago, but there's a deeper and more worrying issue at play here. Look at oil rich islamic countires like Azerbaijan smiling all the way to the bank without the religious influence.

 

[Jopie Fourie]

UK says Iran was behind Saudi oil attack and it would consider joining a US-led military effort

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that there was "a very high degree of probability" that Iran was behind an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities that wiped out half of its production.

Two major oil refineries in Saudi Arabia came under attack last week, knocking out about 5% of the world's daily production of crude oil, equal to about 5 million barrels. Yemen's Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for the attacks, though the US and Saudi Arabia have pointed a finger towards Iran. Iran has denied the claims.

Speaking to reporters flying with him to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Johnson said his government is now "attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran" for the September 14 attacks.

"We think it very likely indeed that Iran was indeed responsible, using both drones and cruise missiles," he told reporters, according to the Guardian.

UK says Iran was behind Saudi oil attack and it would consider joining a US-led military effort | Business Insider

"We think it very likely indeed that Iran was indeed responsible, using both drones and cruise missiles," Boris Johnson told reporters.

www.businessinsider.co.za

Seems a war is becoming unavoidable.