Saudi Arabia shut its biggest domestic oil refinery on Monday after a drone strike, a source said, as a wave of strikes across the Middle East forced shutdowns of oil and gas facilities in Israel, Iran, and Iraq.
State oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its 550,000 barrels-per-day Ras Tanura refinery on the kingdom’s Gulf coast as a precaution. The complex also serves as a critical crude export terminal.
“Two drones were intercepted at the facility, with debris causing a limited fire,” the Saudi defence ministry spokesperson told Al Arabiya TV, adding that there were no injuries.
Saudi state news agency SPA said some refinery units were shut as a precaution, but local supply of petroleum and its derivatives was not affected. The source confirmed that the situation at Ras Tanura is under control.
The attacks have disrupted production across the region. In Iraqi Kurdistan, which exported 200,000 bpd via pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port in February, companies including DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Dana Gas, and HKN Energy halted output as a precaution, with no damage reported.
Offshore Israel, the government instructed Chevron to temporarily suspend the giant Leviathan gas field, part of a $35 billion export deal to Egypt, while Energean halted production from smaller gas fields. In Iran, explosions on Kharg Island, which processes 90% of the country’s crude exports, were reported on Saturday, though the impact remains unclear.
Global markets reacted sharply, with Brent crude futures surging roughly 10% to over $82 a barrel.
Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, said: “The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights. The attack is also likely to move Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf states closer to joining US and Israeli military operations against Iran.”
Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure has faced attacks previously, most notably in September 2019 when drone and missile strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom’s crude production. Ras Tanura was also targeted by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in 2021.
Boluwatife Enome
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