Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia claims attack on Aramco facilities in Jeddah

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia claimed responsibility for an attack on Saudi Aramco's facilities in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, their military spokesman said on twitter Dec. 7, amid continued attempts to sabotage Saudi Arabia's vital energy infrastructure.

The Houthis attacked Jeddah with armed drones, Yahya Sare'e said in an address broadcast on twitter.

Aramco wasn't immediately available to comment on the alleged attack.

Houthis claimed responsibility on Nov. 20 for an attack on Jeddah in an alleged large-scale operation, Sare'e said at the time.

Aramco has an oil products distribution hub in Jeddah, which used to be the site of an 80,000-b/d refinery that was shut in 2017.

Saudi Arabia foiled ballistic missile and booby-trapped drone attacks on the oil-rich eastern province near Aramco's headquarters, and the cities of Najran and Jazan, on Sept. 4, a defense ministry spokesman said, in another sign the Houthis continue to target sites close to the kingdom's energy infrastructure.

Abqaiq attack

A spate of attacks and attempted strikes on Aramco's infrastructure allegedly by the Houthis has raised fears about the safety of oil infrastructure in the Middle East.

Most attacks have been intercepted or missed targets, and have not resulted in significant damage or disruption to output.

However, a September 2019 attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq giant crude processing plant and Khurais oil field temporarily knocked out 5.7 million b/d -- 5% of global crude demand -- and threw the market into disarray.

Before that, in May 2019, the Houthis took responsibility for a drone attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which runs from Abqaiq in the east of the country to the Red Sea on the west, which serves as a critical shipping passage.