Saudi Arabia's Largest Oil Refinery Shuts Down As Iran Targets Oil, Gas, Infrastructure

Drone strikes led to the closure of Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery as the war with Iran widened throughout the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has halted production at the Ras Tanura refinery, as the nation has faced drone and missiles strikes from Iran. Iran has been launching retaliatory strikes throughout the Middle East since the start of a joint U.S.-Israel military operation began February 28.

Concern about the conflict caused U.S. crude oil to rise by more than 6.5 percent early Monday, NBC News reported. Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose 7 percent.

The network reported that gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every $1 increase in crude oil price. Meaning that the $5 increase already seen early Monday will translate to a per gallon price rise of about 13 cents. How high prices might go depend on how successful Iran is at targeting gas and oil infrastructure throughout the region.

Oilprice.com reported that Ras Tanura is Saudi Arabia's largest refinery, producing about 550,000 barrels a day. The website reported that production shutdown as a precaution after two drones targeting the facility were shot down.

However, the Times of Israel reported that the attacks did cause a fire at the refinery.

"A limited fire resulted from falling shrapnel during the interception operation, with no civilian casualties," a Saudi defense ministry spokesman told the outlet.

Oilprice.com noted that in Iraqi Kurdistan several companies including DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Dana Gas and HKN Energy shutdown. The region exported about 200,000 barrels a day in February.

The Times of Israel reported that other drone strikes by Iran had paralyzed shipping in United Arab Emirates and Oman. The outlet reported that strikes had been reported throughout the region including in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Manama, and Oman's commercial part of Duqm.

Among Iran's targets have been oil and gas infrastructure in the region. The Associated Press reported that QatarEnergy was stopping production of liquefied natural gas, helping to spike European natural gas prices by 40 percent.

Originally published on IBTimes

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