RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 15 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia announced that, two of its oil pipeline booster stations were targeted by drone attacks.
Saudi Minister of Energy, Khalid Al-Falih, confirmed in a statement that, the two oil-pumping stations of its main pipeline had been hit by explosive-laden drones, which caused a fire at the No. 8 station with limited damage.
Al-Falih condemned the attacks as “an act of terrorism” that targeted global oil supplies, adding that the drone attacks, along with the Sunday attacks against four ships, including two Saudi oil vessels, near the port of Fujairah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aimed to destabilise international energy supply.
“Saudi Aramco took precautionary measures and temporarily stopped operation of the pipeline, as it is evaluating the situation and working on restoring the operations of the affected pump station and the pipeline,” Al-Falih said.
Saudi Aramco confirmed that there were no injuries or casualties in the attacks.
The 1,200-kilometre (750-mile) East-West pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s main eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu in the west.
The minister also vowed that Saudi oil supply and production won’t be affected by the attacks.
He urged for global efforts to confront all terrorist groups that carry out such acts, including the Houthi militias in Yemen, that are allegedly backed by Iran.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, on Tuesday, claimed responsibility for carrying out drone attacks on a major pipeline and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. There have been no comments yet by Saudi Arabia on the Yemeni rebels’ claim.
Bahrain, Jordan, the UAE, Egypt, and the Arab League, on Tuesday, condemned the drone attacks on the Saudi oil pumping stations.
The Houthi rebels have launched dozens of drone strikes and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi cities in the past months, to retaliate against the Saudi-led coalition’s air strikes on their positions in Yemen.– NNN-SPA
