Message of Solidarity
BY MINISTRY OF INFORMATION (PRESS RELEASE)
The people and Government of Eritrea condemn, in the strongest terms, the senseless attacks perpetrated against Saudi Arabia and that are aimed at stoking and exacerbating regional and international tension.
In this respect, the people and Government of Eritrea express their solidarity with the people and Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Ministry of Information
15 May 2019
Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Attacked Saudi Oil Infrastructure
Saudi Arabia said drones attacked one of its oil pipelines as other assaults targeted energy infrastructure elsewhere in the kingdom on Tuesday, shortly after Yemen’s rebels claimed a coordinated drone attack on the Sunni power.
The assaults marked the latest incidents challenging Mideast security after the alleged sabotage of oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates earlier this week amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
In a statement carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that drones attacked a petroleum pumping station supplying a pipeline running from its oil-rich Eastern Province to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea.
A fire broke out and firefighters later brought it under control, though the state-run Saudi Aramco stopped pumping oil through the pipeline.
Oil prices rose following the incident. Brent crude futures were at US$71.02 a barrel at 1:35 GMT, up 79 cents or 1.12 per cent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.68 per barrel, up 64 cents or 1.05 per cent.
A fifth of global oil consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz from Middle East crude producers to global markets.
The kingdom’s state security body also said that two oil infrastructure sites in the greater region of Riyadh, home to its landlocked capital, were targeted at the same time. The statement described it as a “limited targeting” of petroleum stations in areas al-Dudami and Afif in the Riyadh region, without elaborating.
