Yemen’s Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi energy facilities on Friday and the Saudi-led coalition said oil giant Aramco’s petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah was hit, causing a fire in two storage tanks but no casualties.
A huge plume of black smoke could be seen rising over the Red Sea city where the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is taking place this weekend, an eyewitness said. The coalition statement on state media said the fire had been brought under control. Flames could still be seen in live footage aired by the Saudi-owned Ekhbariya television channel.
The Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom strongly condemned the “sabotage attacks”, reiterating that it would not bear responsibility for any global oil supply disruptions resulting from such attacks, state news agency SPA reported, citing an official in the ministry..
The ministry blamed Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis with ballistic missiles and advanced drones, stressing that the attacks “would lead to impacting the Kingdom’s production capacity and its ability to fulfil its obligations to global markets”. Teheran denies arming the Houthis. There was no immediate comment from Aramco.
The attacks came as Jeddah was hosting the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The dense black smoke could be seen from the race circuit, a Reuters witness said. Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali told drivers and team bosses that the Grand Prix will go ahead as planned, according to a source familiar with the matter.
