SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Yemen’s Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry on Sunday, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security.
The Saudi energy minister said an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, the site of an oil refinery and the world’s biggest offshore oil loading facility, was attacked with a drone coming from the area, Reuters reported.
The defense ministry said the armed drone was intercepted and destroyed prior to reaching its target.
The Houthis, who have been battling a Saudi-led coalition for six years, also said they attacked military targets in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir and Jazan, according to Reuters.
The defense ministry said shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near a residential compound in Dhahran used by state-controlled Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company.
The attack caused no casualties or loss of property, it added.
“Such acts of sabotage do not only target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also the security and stability of energy supplies to the world, and therefore, the global economy,” a ministry spokesman said in a statement.
The sites attacked on Sunday lie on the Gulf coast in Eastern Province, home to most of Aramco’s production and export of facilities.
The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted 12 armed drones aimed at “civilian targets” without specifying a location as well as two ballistic missiles fired towards Jazan.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group had fired 14 drones and eight ballistic missiles in a “wide operation in the heart of Saudi Arabia”.
The attack forced Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut more than half of its crude output, causing a huge price spike.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia was shaken by a big missile and drone attack on oil installations just a few kilometers from the facilities hit on Sunday.
The Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis had been emboldened after the new U.S. administration revoked a terrorist designation on the group in February that had been imposed by former President Donald Trump’s administration and backed by Riyadh.
In February, Biden declared a halt to U.S. support for offensive operations by the coalition but said the United States would continue to help Saudi Arabia defend itself.
