Yesterday, Friday, the Houthi group announced that it had bombed oil facilities and other targets in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the regions of Abha and Jizan, at a time when global oil markets are in a state of confusion due to the impact of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said that the group launched an attack on Saudi oil facilities and other sites with 9 drones, adding that 3 planes targeted the Aramco refinery in Riyadh, while 6 other planes targeted Aramco facilities in the Jizan and Abha regions.
The Houthi spokesman said, "In response to the escalation of aggression, our armed forces carried out a large-scale military operation in the Saudi depth, with 9 drones," explaining that these drones are of the "Sumad 3 and Sumad 1" type.
And the French news agency reported that an oil refinery in the Saudi capital was attacked by a drone, which caused the outbreak of a "small fire", but it did not affect the refinery's work or the supply of crude and its derivatives.
Aramco's refinery is located south of Riyadh, about 1,000 km from the closest point to the border with Yemen, and has a refining capacity of about 100,000 barrels per day.
On the other hand, a source at the Saudi Ministry of Energy said, "The oil refinery in Riyadh was attacked by a remote drone, and the attack resulted in a small fire that was controlled."
The source confirmed that the fire did not leave human casualties, nor was it affected by the refinery's work or the supply of petroleum and its derivatives, according to the state news agency, "SPA".
Vandalism
The Saudi source considered that “these sabotage and terrorist acts, which are repeatedly committed against vital installations and civilian objects in different regions of the Kingdom, do not target the Kingdom alone,” but rather “target, in a broader way, to destabilize the security and stability of energy supplies in the world, and thus negatively affect the global economy. ".
Hours after the Saudi source's statements, the Houthis announced that they had launched 9 drones towards Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi authorities did not announce any other attack.
The Houthis often target airports and oil facilities in the kingdom, one of the world's largest oil exporters, against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia's leadership of a military coalition in support of the Yemeni government since 2015.
In March 2021, the Riyadh oil refinery was attacked by drones, which led to a fire.
The attack was claimed by the Houthi rebels.
In November 2020, the Houthis targeted with a missile a distribution station for petroleum products belonging to Aramco, north of Jeddah.
Unprecedented attacks against Aramco facilities in September 2019 caused the suspension of about half of Saudi production for days.
The Houthi spokesman said that the latest targeting comes "within the framework of the legitimate response to the unjust siege" and that his group "is on high alert to carry out military operations in response to preventing the entry of oil derivatives" to Sanaa and the cities under the control of this group, which is witnessing an oil derivatives crisis.