Two Major Saudi Oil Installations Hit by Drone Strike, And U.S. Blames Iran
Drone strikes set fire to a Saudi Aramco plant in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, early Saturday. The location was one of two Saudi Aramco facilities targeted, and Yemen's Houthi rebel faction has claimed responsibility for the strikes.
By Ben Hubbard, Palko Karasz and Stanley Reed
Sept. 14, 2019
Updated 6:40 p.m. ET

Drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck two key oil installations inside Saudi Arabia on Saturday, damaging facilities that process the vast majority of the country’s crude output and raising the risk of a disruption in world oil supplies.

The attacks immediately escalated tensions in the Persian Gulf amid a standoff between the United States and Iran, even as key questions remained unanswered — where the drones were launched from, and how the Houthis could have managed to hit facilities deep in Saudi territory, some 500 miles from Yemeni soil.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of being behind what he called "an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply" and asserted that there was "no evidence the attacks came from Yemen." He did not, however, say where the attacks were launched from, and the Saudis themselves did not openly accuse Iran.

The Houthis said they had launched the aerial attacks with 10 drones, which would amount to their most audacious strike on Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen's war more than four years ago. The Saudi-led bombing campaign has devastated the impoverished country and exacerbated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Houthis are part of a regional network of militant groups aligned with and backed by Iran — Saudi Arabia's regional rival — and United States and Saudi officials suspect that Iran has dispatched technicians to Yemen to train the Houthis on drone and missile technology.

United Nations investigators have written that the Houthis have advanced drones that could have a range of up to 930 miles. That leaves open the possibility that the drones used Saturday had flown from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. But they may also have been launched from another country, such as Iraq, or from inside Saudi Arabia itself.

The Houthis have attacked Saudi infrastructure before, primarily with less accurate ballistic missiles.

The targeted oil facilities can process 8.45 million barrels of crude oil a day between them, the bulk of production in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, said production of 5.7 million barrels a day — well over half of the nation’s overall daily output — was suspended.

A still image from a video obtained from social media showing smoke billowing at an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, one of two oil processing centers struck by drones on Saturday. It was not clear how badly damaged the facilities were, but such strikes have the potential to disrupt world oil supplies.

A still image from a video obtained from social media showing smoke billowing at an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, one of two oil processing centers struck by drones on Saturday. It was not clear how badly damaged the facilities were, but such strikes have the potential to disrupt world oil supplies.

It was not immediately clear how badly the facilities were damaged, but shutting them down for more than a few days would affect the global oil supply. Analysts who closely follow the Saudi oil industry said they were hearing that the impact would not be severe — perhaps only a few days' outage, which the Saudis could cover with reserves.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-refineries-drone-attack.html

good for them... shoulda been that kabba in mecca... nonsense.

The attacks come as Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, steps up preparations for a much-anticipated initial public offering of Saudi Aramco.

Goes to show that the powers that be aren’t pleased with the IPO.

Interesting times ahead.

Muslims against Muslim
Religion of peace my foot

Actually a good time to be a Forex trader. Especially on commodities like crude and natural gas.

This information will increase our foreign reserve because, crude price will increase. However our pump fuel price is bound to increase, if oil price crosses $70 per barrel.

This may mark the beginning of ww3, however no one would be safe. Nigeria Govt should be very careful when the whole thing escalates. But hopefully it doesn't.

Trump says US is 'locked and loaded' after attack on Saudi oil supply

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/15/trump-says-us-is-locked-and-loaded-after-attack-on-saudi-oil-supply.html