Saudi Arabia says attacks hit oil and gas facilities, including East-West Pipeline

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has confirmed attacks on its oil and gas facilities, including the key East-West Pipeline, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed official at the Ministry of Energy.

The report did not say when the attacks took place, but said one Saudi national was killed and seven others were wounded.

SPA said the recent attacks on the kingdom’s energy infrastructure had significantly affected both oil production and transport, disrupting more than 1 million barrels per day.

Attacks on the East-West Pipeline led to losses of about 700,000 barrels per day, while strikes on other infrastructure reduced capacity by a further 600,000 barrels per day, SPA said.

Satellite imagery provided by the European Space Agency shows large plumes of thick black smoke rising at Saudi Aramco’s vital Abqaiq processing facility on Wednesday.European Space Agency/Copernicus

CNN also reported that satellite imagery provided by the European Space Agency showed fire and thick black smoke rising from Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq processing facility following reports of an Iranian attack on Wednesday.

Amena Bakr, an analyst at Kpler, told CNN that the losses would bring the regional total of disrupted supply to 12.1 million barrels per day. She said the East-West Pipeline had been key to bypassing the blocked Strait of Hormuz.