Did Iran Target Saudi’s Largest Oil Refinery? Defence Ministry Says Ras Tanura Faced Drone Attempt, No Damage Reported

Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura facility, home to the kingdom’s largest domestic refinery and a major crude export terminal, was targeted in an attempted drone attack on Wednesday, according to Saudi officials. The development comes just two days after another drone strike on the same complex forced a shutdown of the refinery.

A Saudi defence ministry spokesperson said on X that the site was targeted but confirmed the attack resulted in no damage. The Saudi state news agency also quoted an energy ministry source as saying there was no disruption to oil supplies.

However, three separate sources told Reuters that Ras Tanura had been struck. They did not provide details about the extent of any damage.

Strait of Hormuz Tensions Rise

The attempted strike comes at a tense moment in the region. Saudi Arabia and other major Gulf oil producers, which include the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, have been unable to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran last Friday.

As a precaution, hundreds of ships are now anchored on either side of the Strait. Iran has warned it would fire on any vessel that attempted to transit the narrow and critical shipping route.

Energy Facilities Under Threat

Ras Tanura is located on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast along the Gulf. Sources say Aramco is trying to reroute some of its crude exports through the Red Sea to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Saudi energy infrastructure has been targeted before. In September 2019, drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom’s oil production and shook global markets. Ras Tanura was also attacked in 2021 by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, in what Riyadh described at the time as a failed assault on global energy security.

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