Saudis halt oil pipe on attack claimed by Iran-backed rebels
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Saudi-Aramco-Pumping-Stations-Targeted-in-13843508.phpMay 14, 2019
Saudi Arabia halted its main cross-country oil pipeline temporarily after a drone attack damaged pumping stations along the link, a strike claimed by Iran-backed rebels in neighboring Yemeni. Oil prices rose.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, said that supplies of crude and products continued “normally without interruption,†the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the energy ministry.
“These attacks prove again that it is important for us to face terrorist entities, including the Houthi militias in Yemen that are backed by Iran,†Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in a statement....
...One of the pumping stations that was hit was about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Yemeni border. Houthi forces possess unmanned aerial vehicles that can reach targets as far as 1,500 kilometers away, according to a UN report issued in January.
The state producer officially known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co. halted the pipeline transporting oil from eastern fields to the port of Yanbu on the western coast as a precautionary, temporary measure after armed drones attacked two pumping stations, igniting a fire that caused minor damage to one, according to SPA.
The East-West pipeline spans 1,200 kilometers from Dhahran on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast to Yanbu on the Red Sea, allowing oil shipments from the kingdom to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline can transport 5 million barrels a day across the country for use in its own refineries and for export from the port of Yanbu. Aramco is working to expand the pipeline’s capacity to 6.5 million barrels of crude a day by 2023, according to a bond prospectus....
