Saudi Arabia Closes Ras Tanura Refinery Following Drone Attack Amid Regional Turmoil

Saudi Arabia has shut down its largest domestic oil refinery following a drone attack, as a series of assaults across the Middle East have led to the suspension of oil and gas facilities in Israel, Iran, and Iraq.

The state-owned Saudi Aramco took the precautionary step of closing its Ras Tanura refinery, which has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, located along the Gulf coast. This facility is crucial for crude oil exports.

According to a spokesperson from the Saudi defense ministry, two drones were intercepted at the site, with debris resulting in a minor fire. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.

The Saudi state news agency SPA indicated that some refinery units were closed as a safety measure; however, the local supply of oil and its derivatives remained unaffected. The situation at Ras Tanura is reportedly stable and under control.

The drone attacks have disrupted production throughout the region. In Iraqi Kurdistan, where about 200,000 barrels per day were exported via pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan port in February, companies such as DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Dana Gas, and HKN Energy have halted output as a safety measure, with no damages reported.

In offshore Israel, the government has directed Chevron to temporarily suspend operations at the Leviathan gas field, which is part of a $35 billion export agreement with Egypt, while Energean has also ceased production from smaller gas fields. Additionally, explosions were reported on Kharg Island in Iran, which handles 90% of the country’s crude exports, although the extent of the impact is still unknown.

The global markets reacted to these events with Brent crude futures rising nearly 10%, surpassing $82 per barrel.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, the principal Middle East analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, remarked that the attack on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery represents a significant escalation, indicating that Gulf energy infrastructure is now a primary target for Iran. He suggested that this incident may lead Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf nations to align more closely with US and Israeli military strategies against Iran.

Previously, Saudi Arabia's energy facilities have been compromised, such as during the September 2019 incident involving drone and missile strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants, which momentarily halted over half of the kingdom's crude production. The Ras Tanura site was also targeted by Yemen's Houthi forces aligned with Iran in 2021.