Saudi Arabia says major pipeline hit by explosive-laden drones

Saudi Arabia says oil infrastructure sites belonging to the country’s state-run oil company Aramco have been targeted and that at least one of the attacks was carried out by drone strikes.

The announcement came shortly after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an assault on the kingdom.

The state Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih as saying that between 6-6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a petroleum pumping station supplying an east-west pipeline between the Eastern Province and to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea was targeted by drones.

He says a fire broke out at a station along the pipeline and was subsequently put out. Aramco has temporarily stopped pumping petroleum through the pipeline until inspection of the damage is complete.

Al-Falih said on Tuesday that two oil pumping stations for the East-West pipeline had been hit by explosive-laden drones, calling the attack “an act of terrorism” that targeted global oil supplies.

The kingdom’s state security body also says two oil infrastructure sites in the greater region of Riyadh, its landlocked capital, were targeted at the same time. The statement described it as a “limited targeting” of petroleum stations in areas al-Dudami and Afif in Riyadh region.