US-Israel War Against Iran Escalates, Saudi Arabian Oil Refinery Targeted
A major oil refinery in Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf coast became a target of attack on Monday 2 March 2026. The incident occurred as Iran launched a new wave of strikes against several nations in the region, expanding the impact of the escalating conflict.
Sources familiar with the incident told AFP that the attack triggered a fire at the Ras Tanura refinery. However, the fire was reported to have been extinguished shortly thereafter.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defence spokesperson, as quoted in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency on platform X, stated that two drones targeted the facility and were successfully intercepted.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Energy said that some operations at the Ras Tanura refinery were suspended on Monday.
“Some operational units at the refinery were closed as a precautionary measure, with no impact whatsoever on the supply of petroleum products to the local market,” said an official source from the ministry in a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency.
The Ras Tanura complex, located on the eastern coast of the kingdom in the Persian Gulf region, is one of the most vital energy facilities in the Middle East. The location houses one of the largest refineries in the entire region and serves as the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s energy sector.
The refinery has a production capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. In addition to serving as a processing centre, Ras Tanura also functions as one of the world’s largest oil export ports, making it an important node in the global energy supply chain.
Attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure are not without precedent. In recent years, the kingdom’s energy facilities have frequently been targets of attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi group.
In March 2022, the Houthi group launched a drone attack targeting the YASREF refinery in the industrial city of Yanbu, located on the Red Sea coast.
Previously, in 2019, an airstrike claimed by the Houthis against two Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia temporarily disabled half of the kingdom’s crude oil production. That attack shook the global energy market and highlighted the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the region.