RIYADH – Two oil pumping stations have been attacked by drones in SaudiArabia, Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources Khalid binAl-Falih said on Tuesday.
According to the minister, the attack, which resulted in a fire at stationNo. 8, occurred between 6.00 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
He slammed the attack as a “cowardly act of terrorism” targeted againstSaudi Arabia and the global economy, stressing the need to counter terrorgroups, including “Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.”
“Crude oil production and export of Saudi oil and oil products continue,they have not been interrupted,” Falih added.
The official further noted that despite the incident, the production andexport of Saudi oil would continue “without interruption”.
Commenting on the event, the kingdom’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco,said that no injuries had been registered.
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Following the attack, the Associated Press reported that the Houthis hadclaimed responsibility for the attack, which was meant to send a message tothe kingdom to stop what the militants described as “aggression”.
The stations are serving a major East-West oil pipeline that transportscrude from the oilfields in the Eastern Province to the port of Yanbu onthe west coast.
The incident comes days after the minister said that two country’s vesselswere targeted in a “sabotage attack” near the UAE. According to Reuters,one of the targeted vessels was en route to being loaded with Saudi crudefrom Ras Tanura port to be delivered to Aramco customers in the US beforethe attack.
In the wake of the Yemen conflict, the Houthis have repeatedly targetedmilitary and oil facilities inside Saudi Arabia with rockets. The Saudi-ledcoalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at therequest of former Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi since 2015. -Sputnik
