Drones attacked the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and an oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early on Saturday, the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said, sparking a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Buqyaq and the Khurais oil field, though Yemen’s Houthi rebels previously launched drone assaults deep inside of the kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fires began after the sites were “targeted by drones,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It said an investigation into the attack was underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The kingdom hopes soon to offer a sliver of the company in an initial public offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi Aramco describes its Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqyaq as “the largest crude oil stabilisation plant in the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The facility processes sour crude oil into sweet crude, then later transports onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Estimates suggest it can process up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plant has been targeted in the past by militants. Al-Qaida-claimed suicide bombers tried but failed to attack the oil complex in February 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no immediate impact on global oil prices as markets were closed for the weekend across the world. Benchmark Brent crude had been trading at just above USD 60 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buqyaq is some 330 kilometers northeast of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.While no group immediately claimed the attacks, suspicion immediately fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the rebels since March 2015. The Iranian-backed Houthis hold Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other territory in the Arab world’s poorest country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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