Damage to Saudi oilfield ‘limited’ after Houthi drone attack

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have brought a fire at a major oilfield under control after Houthi rebels in Yemen sent armed drones to the facility.

Saudi state oil company Aramco said the fire at Shaybah oilfield did not cause injuries or disrupt output yesterday.

“One of the units of a natural gas plant in the Shaybah oilfield was attacked by drones, resulting in a controlled fire – causing limited damage and no human injuries, thankfully,” said Khalid Al Falih, the Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and the chairman of Saudi Aramco.

“The kingdom’s oil production was not affected by the terrorist act,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

“Saudi Aramco’s response team controlled a limited fire this morning at the Shaybah NGL [natural gas liquids] facility,” the company said.

“There were no injuries and no interruptions to Saudi Aramco’s oil operations.”

Shayba is more than 1,000 kilometres away from Houthi-controlled territory in north-western Yemen.

The oilfield is located near the border with the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s main partner in the Arab coalition to restore the internationally recognised government to Yemen.

It is not the first time Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure has been attacked by the rebels and Mr Al Falih said the kingdom “condemns this cowardly attack and affirms that this act of terrorism and sabotage is an extension of those acts that targeted the global oil supply chains, including pipelines in the kingdom and oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf and others”.

“This targets not only the kingdom but the security of energy supplies to the world, and thus poses a threat to the global economy,” he said.