Saudi Arabian air defences thwarted several waves of drone strikes launched at state-controlled Saudi Aramco's giant 1mn b/d Shaybah field, the Saudi defense ministry said early Saturday.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, the defense ministry said 20 drones heading for the Shaybah field in five waves were detected and intercepted over Saudi Arabia's share of the Empty Quarter desert.
The first interceptions were announced at 02:11 local time (22:11 GMT), and the latest at 07:21.
This attempted strike on Aramco's Shaybah field is the first on a key upstream oil asset since the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran on 28 February, triggering retaliatory strikes by Tehran against a range of targets in neighboring Mideast Gulf countries, including key logistical and energy-related facilities.
Aramco's 550,000 b/d Ras Tanura refinery on Saudi Arabia's east coast was also targeted on two separate occasions this past week ꟷ once on 2 March, and again on 4 March.
The facility was shut down for "precautionary measures" following the first incident after sustaining "limited damage" due to "debris from the interception of two drones in the vicinity" that fell on it, the energy ministry said. The second incident resulted in "very minimal" further damage, again caused by debris, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Bahrain's 405,000 b/d Sitra refinery was also targeted this week, causing a fire at an unspecified unit, as were storage facilities at the UAE port of Fujairah, the world's third-largest crude and products storage hub, and Oman's Duqm port.
Tehran's retaliatory strikes against its Mideast Gulf neighbors have also effectively halted shipping through the Mideast Gulf and the strait of Hormuz — the waterway through which 14mn bl of crude and 6mn bl of refined products transited daily before the war began.
