Several Gulf countries reported drone attacks on their energy sector facilities on 19 March following an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field a day earlier, a major escalation in Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.
An oil industry source said the drone strike hit Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery SAMREF, which is jointly owned by Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil, refines about 400,000 barrels of oil per day and is one of the Saudi kingdom’s key export-oriented refineries.
In Kuwait, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation declared a small fire after a drone hit one of the operating units of the Mina El Ahmad refinery.
The UK Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO) reported on 19 March that a projectile hit a vessel near Ras Laffan, Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas industrial complex. Earlier in the day, Qatari authorities announced that the industrial area had come under renewed “ballistic missile” fire from Iran, resulting in damage and fire. Qatar’s Interior Ministry later said all fires at the Ras Laffan facilities had been brought under control.
On 18 March, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued an evacuation warning for several oil facilities in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, including SAMREF, due to the Israeli strike on South Pars. In the evening of the same day, Iran launched its first missile strike on Ras Laffan, where key QatarEnergy facilities are located.
Riyadh called on Tehran to stop attacking neighbouring states. Iran’s attacks on its neighbours will have consequences, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said after talks with Arab and Muslim foreign ministers in Riyadh.
Iranian forces have repeatedly attacked Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries with missiles and drones since the start of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran on 28 February. The targets of the attacks, according to authorities in those countries, were residential neighbourhoods and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, airports, homes and diplomatic missions.
Following Iran’s missile attack on QatarEnergy facilities on 18 March, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that in the event of another attack, “the United States, with or without Israel’s help, will destroy the entire South Pars field with a force and power like Iran has never seen before.”
Iran has attacked refineries in several Gulf countries