Oil wars : The lifeline of Saudi Arabia attacked

The war of attrition in the Middle East continues as Abqaiq in Buqyaq, which contains Saudi Arabia's and the world's largest oil processing plant, and Khurais, which contains the country's second largest oilfield came under attack at dawn today. The two major facilities in the east of the country are run by state-owned oil giant Aramco.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, an Iranian proxy force, launched ten drones which sparked a huge fire. The fire has now been brought under control.

In a similar incident in August, the fighters struck hitting Shaybah oilfield with drones. They also attacked two oil pumping stations in May.

There has been unease in the region after attacks in June and July on oil tankers in Gulf waters.

 It would thus appear that there are forces out there that are determined to cripple the economy

 of the desert kingdom.

 

Surprisingly, Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the U.N., the West 

and Gulf Arab nations insist Tehran does. Drone models identical to those used by Iran have 

been used by the rebels. 

The chances are that the attack will heighten tensions further across the wider Persian Gulf amid a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran over its unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.