Houthis Claim Missile Strike On Saudi Arabia’s Major Oil Export Hub

Yemen’s Houthi group said on Tuesday it had struck Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery with a ballistic missile, claiming the attack caused a fire at the complex on the Gulf coast. Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the strike.

The claim came as the group reported attacks on Saudi military facilities and an advance by Saudi-backed Yemeni forces near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic shipping route linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Ras Tanura has a refining capacity of 550,000 barrels per day and includes a major oil export terminal. Saudi Arabia ships nearly all its oil exports through two main ports, Ras Tanura in the Gulf and Yanbu on the Red Sea. Both facilities have been attacked by the Houthis in the past.

Bloomberg News, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Saudi Arabia had contained a fire near the Ras Tanura terminal. There was no immediate official Saudi confirmation of the reported missile strike.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had also targeted Saudi military transport aircraft at Najran Airport, an airbase in Khamis Mushait, the Defence Ministry building in Riyadh and Abha airport.

Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm those reported attacks.

Saudi Civil Defence briefly issued an air raid alert in Riyadh on Tuesday. It later said falling debris from the interception of two ballistic missiles had caused material damage to a building, a construction site and a vehicle.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh.

Saudi Civil Defence also issued early warning alerts in Najran, Abha and Khamis Mushait before later announcing that the danger had passed, according to Anadolu. It did not specify the nature of the threat.

Anadolu also reported that the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted four drones and three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The supplied reports said the Houthis had intensified attacks against Saudi Arabia since July, with missile and drone launches targeting civilian airports, oil facilities and military sites increasing during October.

The Houthis said they had repelled an advance by forces they described as Saudi-backed from the southern approaches to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is an important route for international shipping.

Earlier in October, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces pushed the Houthis out of coastal areas they had seized in September, weakening the group’s hold on parts of the Red Sea coast.

Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported Saudi strikes on the Yemeni city of Mocha. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the reported strikes.

The conflict has shattered a United Nations-brokered truce agreed in 2022 between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country.

Ras Tanura

Ras Tanura is located on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, west of the Strait of Hormuz. The complex includes a refinery with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day and an oil shipping terminal.

The facility was temporarily shut during the early months of the Iran war as a precautionary measure. Saudi Arabia’s other main oil export hub, Yanbu, is on the Red Sea coast.

The two ports are central to Saudi oil exports, making the security of both Gulf and Red Sea infrastructure important to the kingdom’s energy trade.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran in an effort to reduce regional tensions.

Egypt’s parliament also authorised the country’s military to help defend Saudi Arabia if requested. Egypt had said it was considering joining the three countries in a mutual defence pact.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthis since March 2015. The group, which is accused of receiving Iranian support, has controlled Sanaa and other parts of Yemen since September 2014.

The reported Ras Tanura strike and several other Houthi attack claims remained unconfirmed by Saudi authorities.