The Saudi Press Agency reported that on 14 May, two oil pumping stations of Saudi Aramco in Dawadmi and Afif Governorates in Riyadh were targteted in drone attacks. The stations run along the Kingdom’s East-West oil pipeline.
Saudi Aramco reported that it “responded to a fire at East West Pipeline Pump station 8 which was caused by a sabotage incident using armed drones which targeted pump stations 8 and 9.”
“Saudi Aramco took precautionary measures and temporarily stopped operation of the pipeline, as it is evaluating the situation and working on restoring the operations of the affected pump station and the pipeline,” Al-Falih said, according to SPA.
The company contained the fire, which only caused minor damage to pump station 8. It confirmed that no injuries or fatalities were reported and its oil and gas supplies were not impacted by the incident.
Explosive-laden drones targeted the two pump stations, and GCC Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani condemned the attacks, attributing them to Yemen’s Houthis.
Multiple reports by the SPA, citing government officials, refer to this as a terrorist attack. The attacks were condemned by many Arab countries and organisations.
This follows an attack earlier in the week on four oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah, including two Saudi tankers. The attack did not lead to any casualties or oil spill.
