Saudi Aramco petroleum storage site hit by Houthi attack

Yemen’s Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi energy facilities on Friday and the Saudi-led coalition said oil giant Aramco’s petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah was hit, causing a fire in two storage tanks but no casualties.

A huge plume of black smoke could be seen rising over the Red Sea city where the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is taking place this weekend, an eyewitness said.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have escalated attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities in recent weeks and ahead of a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The coalition has repeatedly said it is exercising self-restraint in the face of the attacks, but launched a military operation in Yemen early on Saturday saying it aimed to protect global energy sources and ensure supply chains.

A coalition statement on state media on Friday said the fire had been brought under control. Flames could still be seen in live footage aired by Saudi-owned Ekhbariya television channel.

The Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom strongly condemned the “sabotage attacks”, reiterating that it would not bear responsibility for any global oil supply disruptions resulting from such attacks, state news agency SPA reported, citing an official in the ministry.

The ministry blamed Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis with ballistic missiles and advanced drones, stressing that the attacks “would lead to impacting the Kingdom’s production capacity and its ability to fulfil its obligations to global markets”. Teheran denies arming the Houthis.

There was no immediate comment from Aramco.

The coalition said its Saturday airstrikes targeted “sources of threat” in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. L2N2VT00H

The attacks came as Jeddah was hosting the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The dense black smoke could be seen from the race circuit, a Reuters witness said.

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali told drivers and team bosses that the Grand Prix would go ahead as planned, according to a source familiar with the matter. read more

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group launched missiles on Friday at Aramco’s facilities in Jeddah and drones at the Ras Tanura and Rabigh refineries, and said it had also targeted “vital facilities” in Riyadh, the capital.

Saudi state media earlier said the coalition had foiled a string of Houthi drone and rocket attacks. Saudi air defences also destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards Jizan, which caused a “limited” fire at an electricity distribution plant.

Crude prices rose more than 1% to over $120 a barrel on Friday, as traders reconciled the impact of a missile attack on an oil distribution facility in Saudi Arabia with a possible release of oil reserves by the United States.

Brent crude settled up $1.62, or 1.4%, to $120.65 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended $1.56, or 1.4% higher, at $113.90. Both had dropped $3 earlier.

Both benchmarks notched their first weekly gains in three weeks - Brent rose more than 11.5% and WTI gained 8.8%

Saudi Arabia said it will not hold responsibility for any shortage of oil supplies in global markets caused by Houthi attacks on its oil facilities.