Drone attacks cut Saudi Arabia’s oil output by half

THE ARTERIES through which oil flows from Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, to consumers across the world have always been the most tempting of targets. Sever them—the country’s long pipelines, pumping stations, storage tanks and great refineries—and it is not just the kingdom that bleeds, but the global economy. Others have tried, but failed. In 2006 Al-Qaeda’s suicide bombers staged an attack on Abqaiq, the world’s largest oil-processing facility, in eastern Saudi Arabia. They were stopped by guards. Now the Houthis, a Shia rebel group from the north of Yemen that is backed by Iran, have apparently succeeded in striking a humiliating blow against the Saudis and their Western backers.

On September 14th drones and missiles launched by the group struck the Abqaiq plant and Khurais oil field, starting huge fires. Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state-owned oil company, said that it had suspended production of 5.7m barrels of crude oil. That is equivalent to roughly 60% of the kingdom’s output and 6% of the world’s oil production. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by more than 10% in the early hours of trading on September 16th. Some analysts expect oil prices to spike further if Saudi oil production is not restored soon. Aramco said it would give an update on the extent of the damage in about 48 hours, but a source told Reuters, a news agency, that repairs would take “weeks, not days”.