Aramco halts Jazan refinery after Houthi strike

Saudi Aramco has shut its 400,000-barrel-a-day Jazan refinery after an attack damaged the Red Sea facility, intensifying concerns over fuel supplies and the security of the kingdom’s western energy infrastructure.

The refinery was taken offline following the assault on Aramco installations in Jazan, also spelt Jizan, near the border with Yemen. The extent of the damage, the units affected and the expected duration of the shutdown were not immediately clear. Aramco had not issued a detailed public statement confirming the operational impact.

Yemen’s Houthi movement said it had targeted Aramco facilities in Jazan and the Red Sea oil-export centre of Yanbu with missiles and drones. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, described the operation as retaliation for Saudi military action and alleged drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.

Images and videos from the area showed a large column of smoke rising near the refinery complex. Satellite imagery also indicated smoke over Jazan province after the attack. Saudi civil defence authorities activated warning systems in Jazan and Yanbu but disclosed few details about damage or casualties.

The Jazan refinery is one of Aramco’s largest downstream installations and is designed to process heavy and medium crude into petrol, diesel, fuel oil and other refined products. The complex also includes power-generation and gasification facilities serving the Jazan Economic City area.

A prolonged outage could tighten supplies of refined fuels in the Red Sea market and force Aramco to redirect products from other domestic plants or import additional cargoes. The immediate impact will depend on existing inventories, the condition of storage tanks and port infrastructure, and how quickly damaged equipment can be repaired.

The shutdown does not automatically imply a reduction in Saudi crude production. Refineries consume crude to manufacture fuels, while upstream output and exports can continue through other terminals. However, the loss of processing capacity could alter crude flows and increase the volume available for export if the outage persists.

The attack has acquired wider significance because Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea facilities have become increasingly important during disruption around the Strait of Hormuz. Crude from eastern producing areas can be transported across the kingdom through the East-West pipeline to Yanbu, allowing shipments to avoid the Gulf waterway.

Yanbu, where millions of barrels can be loaded daily, was also targeted. Two ballistic missiles aimed at oil installations there were intercepted by a Patriot air-defence system operated by Greek forces under a defence agreement with Riyadh. No major disruption at the export terminal was immediately confirmed.

The Houthis have threatened to target Saudi oil operations and restrict Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Roughly 12 per cent of global trade and about a quarter of container traffic normally pass through the narrow waterway.

Any sustained threat to both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would place pressure on two of the world’s most important energy and commercial shipping routes. Tankers forced to travel around southern Africa face longer voyages, higher freight costs and greater demand for vessels.

The Jazan attack followed renewed fighting between Saudi-backed forces and the Houthis after years of reduced cross-border hostilities under a truce that began in 2022. Saudi-led forces carried out strikes on what they described as Houthi missile sites, drone-launching positions and weapons facilities in Yemen’s Hodeidah, Marib and al-Jawf areas.

Houthi authorities accused the Saudi-led coalition of attacking civilian infrastructure, including telecommunications facilities. The coalition said its operations were directed at military targets linked to threats against commercial vessels and Saudi interests in the Red Sea.

The exchanges risk undermining efforts to secure a political settlement to Yemen’s civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people through combat, hunger and disease. The Houthis control Sanaa and much of northern and western Yemen, including territory along the Red Sea coast.