DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Houthi rebels in Yemen just a few days ago attacked the Saudi oil warehouse they attacked two years ago, according to satellite photos released on Tuesday.
The rebels attacked the North Jiddah Bulk Plant facility on Sunday, southeast of Jeddah city airport in Saudi Arabia, according to photos by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press.
Those same facilities — owned by state-owned oil company Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco — were attacked in November 2020 by a cruise missile, according to the Houtis.
Sunday’s attack once again provokes questions about Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend itself against the Houthi rebels who have been waging war in neighbouring Yemen for years.
It also comes after Saudi Arabia issued an unusually grim warning, saying that it cannot guarantee oil production if the attacks continue, which could further raise oil prices, already high due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Neither the Saudi government nor Aramco answered questions on Tuesday.
Sunday’s attack by the Houthi rebels was one of the most intense so far in the war. In the past, Saudi Arabia has responded to such attacks with shelling in Yemen, which have been criticized internationally because they often kill civilians. One of the targets was a petrochemical complex in Yanbu, on the Red Sea, which Saudi officials said disrupted oil production.
Another target was the North Jiddah Bulk Plant, where diesel, gasoline and jet fuel are stored for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, about 285 kilometers (177 miles) southeast of Yanbu on the coast. It contains more than a quarter of the stock in Saudi Arabia and also supplies fuel for a regional desalination plant.
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