A massive fire reportedly broke out at the Abqaiq refinery of Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia on Monday following a drone strike at the facility. The incident has sparked concerns over global oil supplies, as tensions already remain escalated in the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict between the United States (US) and Iran.
Multiple videos shared by OSINT (open source intelligence) sites have also gone viral on social media that showed smoke rising from the facility and the East-West Pumping Station. However, India TV Digital cannot independently verify the veracity of the video.
The Abqaiq refinery remains Saudi Aramco's largest oil processing complex. Besides, it is also world's largest crude oil stabilisation plant, which removes hydrogen sulfide, natural gas liquids, water, and other impurities from crude oil. Therefore, any strike on the facility could severely impact global crude supply chains.
As of now, the Saudi Aramco has now issued a statement on the fire. Additionally, there is no confirmation on whether the attack led to any casualty or not.
Iran-backed rebels responsible?
Saudi Arabia has claimed that the drones were launched from Iraq by pro-Iran militant groups. These drones were intercepted by the defence forces and were aimed towards petroleum facilities in the Eastern Region and Riyadh.
Ministry of Defence official spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki "clarified that these terrorist attempts were launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iranian-backed terrorist militias, affirming the Kingdom's legitimate right to defend itself and its capabilities, and its retention of the right to respond at the appropriate time and place," the defence ministry said on X.
The repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly targeted since the US-Iran war started on February 28. Many of these strikes were conducted by Iran-backed militias. The Houthi rebels of Yemen, also backed by Iran, have also been targeting the Kingdom and has announced a naval blockade of its ports.
Earlier in the day, the Houthis also launched another wave of drone strikes on the Kingdom and its oil infrastructure. The group "successfully shot down a Turkish-made... armed reconnaissance drone belonging to the Saudi enemy while it was conducting hostile operations," said Houthi's military spokesman Yahya Saree, as quoted by AFP.
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