RIYADAH, SEpt 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – An attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on two Saudi Arabian oil production facilities cut the kingdom’s oil output by more than half, in an incident that has escalated already high tensions in the Gulf region and raised concern over global oil supplies.
Saudi Arabia – the world’s top oil exporter – saw production cut by 5.7 million barrels a day after Saturday’s attacks on the the plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, the state-owned oil company Aramco said.
The country’s total production hovers around 10 million barrels per day, with an average of 9.85 million barrels per day in August, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels took responsibility for the attack, saying they sent 10 drones into the kingdom; however, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo placed the blame squarely on Iran and said “there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.”
Pompeo called the incident an “unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”
The attack caused major fires at the two facilities, which are operated by Saudi state oil giant Aramco, located around 330 kilometres north-east of the capital Riyadh.
The fires have been brought under control and there were no injuries, Aramco President Amin Nasser said. A progress update on restoring production is to be provided in around 48 hours.
A military spokesman for the Houthi rebels said the attack was a “legal response” to an ongoing Saudi-led military campaign against them in Yemen.
“We promise the Saudi regime that our next operations will expand and be more painful,” the rebel spokesman added, according to pro-Houthi television al-Masirah.
“The Saudi regime has no solution except halting aggression [in Yemen],” said the Houthi official.
Buqyaq, where the attacks took place, is home to the world’s largest oil refining plant, according to Aramco.
US President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and offered his “support for Saudi Arabia’s self-defence,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said.
“The United States Government is monitoring the situation and remains committed to ensuring global oil markets are stable and well supplied,” Deere added in a statement.
Crown Prince Mohammad emphasized Saudi Arabia’s “willingness and strength to thwart such a terrorist aggression and deal with its consequences,” according to a statement carried by Saudi’s state news agency.
Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy for Yemen, condemned the attack as “extremely worrying.”
He called on all parties to exercise restraint and to prevent further incidents, “which pose a serious threat to regional security, complicate the already fragile situation and jeopardize UN-led political process.”
In recent months, the Houthis have stepped up their missile and drone attacks into neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has been locked in a devastating power struggle between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government since late 2014.
The Saudis fear that the Houthis will give their regional rival, Iran, a strategic foothold in the Arabian Peninsula.
The rebels currently control Yemen’s capital Sana’a and other parts of the country.
NNN-AGENCIES
