US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for yesterday’s drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. He dismissed a claim by Yemeni Houthi rebels that they had attacked the two facilities, run by state-owned company Aramco.
Yesterdau TV footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco’s largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the strikes had reduced crude oil production by 5.7 million barrels a day – about half the kingdom’s output. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the Minister said the attacks resulted in a temporary suspension of production operations at the Abqaiq oil processing facility and the Khurais oil field. The statement said the fires were controlled and no workers were injured. It said Saudi Aramco would provide d information in the next 48 hours.
The attacks were the latest of many drone assaults on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure in recent weeks. They raise concerns about the global oil supply and are likely to further increase tensions across the Persian Gulf. This comes amid an escalating crisis between the U.S. and Iran over its unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.
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