04 Mar 2021 | 07:31 UTC — Dubai

Yemen's Houthi rebels say fired missile at Aramco Jeddah facilities

Highlights

Saudi Arabia state media says missile intercepted

Saudi Arabia, its oil facilities, frequent targets for Houthi attacks

Dubai — Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed in a tweet by a spokesperson of an attack on Saudi Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah, by firing a missile in the early hours of March 4.

Saudi Arabia's state media reported that a missile launched by the Houthis toward the southern city of Jazan was intercepted and destroyed on March 4.

"The Royal Saudi Air Force has intercepted and destroyed this morning (Thursday) a ballistic missile launched systematically and deliberately by the terrorist Houthi militia to target civilians and civilian objects in Jazan," the state-run Saudi Press Agency said quoting an Arab coalition statement. "The terrorist Houthi militia is purposely escalating the deliberate, hostile, terrorist targeting of civilians and civilian objects using ballistic missiles and bomb-laden UAVs. These terrorist acts amount to war crimes."

Another missile was intercepted in the town of Khamis Mushait, SPA said.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to a request for comment about any impact on its oil facilities.

Saudi Arabia and its oil facilities have been frequent targets for Houthi attacks.

In September 2019, an attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq crude processing plant and Khurais oil field temporarily knocked out 5.7 million b/d, or 5% of global crude demand, throwing the market into disarray. It took about 10 days for Aramco to carry out sufficient repairs for total output to recover to 10 million b/d.

Aramco's Jazan complex has a 400,000 b/d domestic refinery and petrochemicals project, which is expected to start commercial operations shortly.