Yemen's Houthis Attack Aramco Oil Facilities in Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has claimed responsibility for an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities on Saturday (25/7), marking the group’s first strike on the kingdom since 2022. In a video statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at Aramco facilities targeting the Red Sea coastal cities of Yanbu and Jazan. The port of Yanbu is a crucial gateway for the kingdom’s oil pipelines, which have helped Saudi Arabia bypass a potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. Saudi authorities have not officially confirmed the attack, but the kingdom’s civil defence force issued warnings to residents in both cities to take shelter on Saturday morning. ‘Do not leave your homes or buildings until the danger has passed,’ the civil defence force said in a social media post. Neither Aramco nor the Saudi Foreign Ministry has responded to requests for comment. It remains unclear how much damage was caused or what the impact on oil output might be, but NASA’s FIRMS fire monitoring platform reported several thermal anomalies at the Jazan refinery, a facility with a processing capacity of 400,000 barrels per day. The attack is feared to add pressure to global oil markets already disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Toby Matthiesen, a professor and Gulf expert at the University of Bristol, assessed that the escalation creates a new layer of uncertainty for global oil supplies. ‘I don’t think any party is genuinely interested in escalating this, but we have seen before how situations can spiral out of control,’ Matthiesen said, adding that a prolonged conflict could disrupt Saudi Arabia’s economic development plans. Hussain Albukhaiti, a pro-Houthi political commentator based in Yemen, said the attack was more related to longstanding grievances against Saudi Arabia than the war in Iran. He warned that the Houthis would escalate further if the United States responded, including the possibility of blockading commercial vessels or US warships. Yahya Saree explained that Saturday’s attack was a response to Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the city of Hodeida, Yemen, the previous Friday. The Saudi-led coalition said it had targeted Houthi military installations that threatened shipping in the Red Sea. Last week, Houthi leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi vowed to target Saudi oil facilities if the kingdom became involved in a wider regional war. On Monday, the Houthis also declared an embargo on Saudi shipping, effectively closing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital transit point connecting Asia and Africa with Europe. The attack revives memories of 2019, when a swarm of Houthi drones struck Aramco facilities in the eastern region, temporarily halving the kingdom’s total oil production. Although Gulf states have sought to build new pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the strike on Yanbu demonstrates that such alternative infrastructure remains vulnerable to military threats.