Oil refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been hit by Iranian drones, as a night of violence targeted at regional energy facilities pushed Ice Brent crude prices up by as much as 8pc.
Kuwait's state-owned KPC reported fires at two of the country's three refineries, and Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said a drone hit a complex at Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, adjacent to what is now the country's only crude export terminal.
One unit at Kuwait's 346,000 b/d Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was struck in the early hours of Thursday, resulting in "a small fire", KPC said. Another strike hit "one unit" at the 454,000 b/d Mina Abdullah refinery, which again caused a fire. No injuries were reported.
The facilities are 10km apart on Kuwait's Mideast Gulf coast. Neither KPC, nor its downstream subsidiary KNPC that operates the refineries, have disclosed if the facilities have been taken offline. Neither were immediately available for comment.
Saudi Arabia said a drone hit the 400,000 b/d Samref refinery at Yanbu. No further details were given. The plant was on an Iranian list of facilities it said it would target in response to US and Israeli strikes on key gas processing facilities on Wednesday. The list included energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, but not in Kuwait.
News of these attacks added more than $9/bl, or more than 8pc, to front-month Ice Brent crude today, pushing the price as high as $117/bl. The price rose by nearly 4pc on Wednesday and has settled above $100/bl for four consecutive days for the first time since mid-2022.
State-owned QatarEnergy said the Ras Laffan industrial complex came under attack twice, once late on Wednesday and once early on Thursday, which resulted in "extensive damage" to the Pearl GTL facility and to "several" of its LNG facilities. Prices for natural gas in Europe went up by a third in early trade today.
Iran had listed the 305,000 b/d Ras Laffan refinery, which is in the same complex, as one of its five targets. It is unclear if the refinery sustained any damage.
UAE authorities reported incidents at the Habshan gas facilities, and at the 420,000 b/d Bab oil field "caused by falling debris from the successful interception of missiles." The facilities are now shut, they said.
Riyadh also came under attack on Wednesday night. The Saudi defence ministry said it intercepted four ballistic missiles "resulting in some debris falling in different areas of the capital" but without "damage or casualties."
