Iranian drones intercepted at Saudi Aramco’s largest refinery Ras Tanura

An Iranian drone strike targeted Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refining facility on Monday, igniting a fire, as Saudi Arabia said it repelled the drones. (Photo/Reuters)

An Iranian drone strike targeted Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refining facility on Monday, igniting a fire, says media reports, as Saudi Arabia said it repelled the drones.

"Two drones attempting to attack the Ras Tanura refinery this morning were intercepted and destroyed," the official SPA news agency reported, quoting a spokesperson of the defence ministry.

"A limited fire resulted from falling shrapnel during the interception operation, with no civilian casualties."

The spokesperson added that the interception operation resulted in shrapnel falling near civilians.

The incident was also seen in widely circulated social media footage.

Reuters, citing an industry source, reported that Saudi Arabia's state oil giant shut its Ras Tanura refinery following the drone strike.

It was shut as a precautionary measure, and the situation is under control, the source said.

Ras Tanura, situated on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast along the Gulf, serves as one of the kingdom's primary oil refining and export hubs. It houses one of the Middle East's largest refineries with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Saudi Arabia's heavily fortified energy facilities have been targeted previously, most notably in September 2019 when unprecedented drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom's crude production and roiled global markets.

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on Saturday, killing several top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran retaliated with a series of drone and missile attacks that targeted Israel, US assets, and several Gulf countries.

So far, Iranian strikes have hit Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.