- Ras Tanura refinery hit by drone, source says.
- Major Israeli gas fields, including Leviathan, are offline.
- Most production in Iraqi Kurdistan was closed as a precautionary measure.
Saudi Arabia closed its largest national oil refinery after a drone strike on Monday, a source said, as Israeli and US strikes and Iranian retaliation forced the closure of oil and gas facilities across the Middle East.
A wave of attacks in the region stretched into a third day, leading to the precautionary suspension of most oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan and several large Israeli gas fields, limiting exports to Egypt.
State oil giant Saudi Aramco’s 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) Ras Tanura refinery, which was closed as a precaution, is part of an energy complex on the kingdom’s Gulf coast that also serves as a key export terminal for Saudi crude oil.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, which exported 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil via a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan in February, companies including DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Dana Gas and HKN Energy stopped production from their fields as a precaution, with no reported damage.
Off the coast of Israel, the giant Leviathan gas field, operated by Chevron, was shut down on Saturday, sources said, while Energean shut down its production vessel serving smaller gas fields.
Drones intercepted in Saudi Arabia
The situation at Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery is under control, the source said. Two drones were intercepted at the facility, and debris caused a limited fire, the Saudi Defense Ministry spokesperson told Al Arabiya TV, adding that there were no injuries.
Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Some units of the refinery were closed as a precautionary measure, but the supply of oil and its derivatives to local markets was not affected, the official Saudi news agency SPA said, citing an unnamed Energy Ministry official.
Still, its closure will likely add to supply concerns as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil consumption passes, will be all but halted after ships were attacked around it on Sunday. Brent crude futures, LCOc1, jumped about 10% on Monday to over $82 a barrel.
The attack is considered a significant escalation
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with the Gulf’s energy infrastructure now in Iran’s crosshairs,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, senior Middle East analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
“The attack is also likely to bring Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf states closer to participating in U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.”
Saudi Arabia’s heavily fortified energy facilities have been targeted before, including in September 2019, when drone and missile attacks on plants in Abqaiq and Khurais temporarily destroyed more than half of the kingdom’s crude production.
Ras Tanura was attacked by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in 2021.
