Saudi Aramco's Jizan Refinery Struck Again as Houthi Attacks Escalate
Key Takeaways
- •Saudi Aramco's 400,000-bpd Jizan refinery was attacked on Monday, with the strike reportedly similar in scale to an attack the previous month that temporarily disrupted operations.
- •Jizan has been repeatedly targeted since Saudi Arabia's conflict with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthings resumed this summer, including strikes in July and August.
- •No exports from the Jizan refinery were recorded in August, as shipments fell sharply following the previous attack.
- •Houthi attacks now threaten both of Saudi Arabia's main export corridors: the Red Sea route and the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of global oil trade.
- •Brent crude traded above $97 per barrel on Monday after Iran proposed controlling a new shipping corridor through Hormuz, following U.S. strikes on three Iranian tankers.
Saudi Aramco's 400,000-barrel-per-day Jizan refinery was hit in a new attack on Monday, threatening a major Red Sea refining hub at a time when Saudi Arabia is moving more oil westward to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
The Financial Times reported that facilities in southwestern Saudi Arabia were struck Monday, citing two people with knowledge of the incident. One of them described the strike as similar in scale to an attack last month that temporarily disrupted operations. Aramco has not yet commented on the latest damage, and no group has been confirmed as responsible.
Jizan has become a repeated target since fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis resumed this summer. The Houthis attacked Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu in July, when smoke was visible over the refinery, and struck Jizan again in August. The pattern echoes earlier phases of the conflict: Houthi strikes on Saudi energy sites, including Aramco's Abqaiq and Khurais facilities in 2019, have repeatedly exposed the vulnerability of the kingdom's oil infrastructure to drone and missile attacks.
The refinery's position on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast has taken on growing importance since the war with Iran disrupted exports through Hormuz, the chokepoint that normally carries roughly a fifth of global oil trade. Saudi Arabia has pushed more crude west through its East West pipeline toward Yanbu, even as operations at Jizan have suffered: the Financial Times reported that oil shipments from the refinery have fallen sharply since the previous attack, with no exports recorded in August. Houthi attacks have also threatened tankers and other oil infrastructure along the kingdom's alternative Red Sea export route, leaving both of Saudi Arabia's main export corridors exposed at once.
Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said last month that the earlier attacks caused temporary interruptions but had no material operational or financial impact on the company.
Oil prices were already climbing Monday after Iran proposed a new shipping corridor through Hormuz that Tehran says it would control, alongside a restricted maritime zone requiring vessels to coordinate with Iran. The proposal followed a weekend of attacks at sea in which U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two U.S. warships. Brent was trading above $97 per barrel on Monday.
Source: OilPrice.com, by Charles Kennedy
