Page 10 - DMEA Week 47 2020

DMEA POLICY DMEA

Aramco attacked again

SAUDI ARABIA FOLLOWING last week’s foiled attack on Saudi trade, and the entire global economy,” the
Aramco’s Jazan oil terminal, Yemen’s Houthi ministry said.
Houthi militia claimed militia claimed to have struck the company’s While the Red Sea facilities are more than
to have struck the north Jeddah bulk plant further up the Red Sea 1,000 km from the bulk of upstream operations
compny’s north Jeddah coast on November 23. which are located in the Eastern Province, the
bulk plant. According to Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree, success of such an attack on Jeddah could have
the group hit the facility with a Quds 2 rocket significant human and operational implications,
fired from within Yemeni territory. Saree said: as the city is Saudi Arabia’s second most popu-
“The strike was very accurate, and ambulances lous. While Aramco closed its Jeddah refinery in
and fire engines rushed to the target.” 2017, targeting facilities that far north illustrates
Later that day, a spokesman from the Saudi the capabilities of the Houthis, and must give
Ministry of Energy said that “an explosion took Aramco cause for concern about vital midstream
place as a result of a terrorist attack by a projec- and downstream facilities at Yanbu’, which is just
tile, causing a fire in a fuel tank at the petroleum 300 km further up the coast.
products distribution terminal, in the north of Yanbu’ is a key export hub and is situated at
Jeddah.” the western end of the East-West Pipeline which
He added that firefighting teams had extin- Aramco is currently overhauling to increase
guished the fire, and that no casualties had longer-term throughput capabilities from 5mn
occurred as a result of the attack. Aramco has not barrels per day to 7mn bpd.
yet made any public statements about the attack. In September last year, attacks on Abqaiq
The MoE’s comments follow its announce- and Khurais facilities in Eastern Province saw
ment last week that it had thwarted an attack oil flows reduced by 5.7mn bpd and led to an
in Jazan by intercepting and destroying two international investigation which suggested
boats filled with explosives, though a fire broke that the drones and rockets had “probably” been
out at the terminal’s floating hoses without any provided by Iran. Apparently under constant
casualties. threat from the south and the north, Aramco has
“Such criminal acts directed against invested heavily in defence and has US Patriot
vital facilities do not target the kingdom missile systems sited near major facilities as well
alone, but they also target the security of as having contracts in place with several major
oil exports, the stability of energy supplies US-based defence firms for protection against
to the world, the freedom of international drones and other projectiles. ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 47 26•November•2020