Drone attacks yesterday sparked fires at two Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) oil facilities, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of the Interior said, the latest such assault claimed by Yemeni rebels as the energy giant prepares for a much-anticipated stock listing.
Huge palls of smoke rose into the sky after the pre-dawn attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two major Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, which follow a spike in regional tensions with Iran.
The attacks were carried out with 10 drones and came after intelligence cooperation from people inside Saudi Arabia, rebel-run Saba news agency reported, citing Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree.
“Our upcoming operations will expand and would be more painful as long as the Saudi regime continues its aggression and blockade” on Yemen, he said.
The attacks highlight how the increasingly advanced weaponry of the Iran-linked Houthi rebels — from ballistic missiles to unmanned drones — poses a serious threat to oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter.
“At 4am the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of ... drones,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. “The two fires have been controlled.”
The statement added that an investigation had been launched after the attack in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, but did not specify the source of the drones.
It also did not say if there were any casualties or whether operations at the two facilities had been affected.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as reporters were not allowed near the plants where Saudi Arabian authorities appeared to have beefed up security.
The attack comes as Saudi Arabia accelerates preparations for a much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Aramco.
The mammoth IPO forms the cornerstone of a reform program envisaged by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, to wean the Saudi economy off its reliance on oil.
Aramco is ready for a two-stage stock market debut including an international listing “very soon,” chief executive officer Amin Nasser told reporters on Tuesday.
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