[Sys1]

Saudi Arabia: major fire at world's largest oil refinery after drone attack from Yemen, helped by Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_IwRPUZOQ


More on aljazeera, Yemen's Houthi rebels claim attacks on facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais, vow to widen range of targets in Saudi Arabia. It could be a major event...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/drones-hit-saudi-aramco-facilities-fires-190914051900472.html

More on CNBC :
"Saudi Arabia reportedly shuts down half its oil production after drone attack", meaning 5mbpd are out of production
“We promise the Saudi regime that our future operations will expand and be more painful as long as its aggression and siege continue,” a Houthi spokesman said. The attack deployed 10 drones, the Houthis said.

The Saudi interior ministry said the fires were under control, according to state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi officials are considering drawing down their oil stocks to sell to foreign buyers to make sure world oil supplies won’t be disrupted by the attack and shutdown, the WSJ reported.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/14/saudi-arabia-is-shutting-down-half-of-its-oil-production-after-drone-attack-wsj-says.html

[Armageddon]

If Iran wants to hurt the US, knocking out oil production and causing high prices is the way to do it. With the US economy teetering towards recession, imagine what $3 + gas would do to it.

[Armageddon]

SAUDI ARABIA'S BIGGEST OIL FIELD GHAWAR IS FLARING GAS AFTER DRONE ATTACKS DISRUPTED GAS PROCESSING FACILITIES - TWO SOURCES RTRS


That doesnt sound good

[Armageddon]

Iran believed to be behind attack on Saudi Arabia oil facilities. Saudi Arabia weighing options for response.


I doubt SA wants to take on Iran

[Plantagenet]

If Iran wants to hurt the US, knocking out oil production and causing high prices is the way to do it. With the US economy teetering towards recession, imagine what $3 + gas would do to it.

Higher oil prices and $3+ gasoline will help a few areas in the US, like the oil producing states of Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Alaska. But the higher prices will hurt most other areas, especially if KSA oil production remains depressed for more than a few weeks.

Cheers!

[Armageddon]

If Iran wants to hurt the US, knocking out oil production and causing high prices is the way to do it. With the US economy teetering towards recession, imagine what $3 + gas would do to it.

Higher oil prices and $3+ gasoline will help a few areas in the US, like the oil producing states of Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Alaska. But the higher prices will hurt most other areas, especially if KSA oil production remains depressed for more than a few weeks.

Cheers!

It will destroy the indebted US consumer who are charging things to make ends meet.

[Outcast_Searcher]

If Iran wants to hurt the US, knocking out oil production and causing high prices is the way to do it. With the US economy teetering towards recession, imagine what $3 + gas would do to it.

$3 gas would do basically nothing to the US, but thanks for playing the usual FUDster game.

[Armageddon]

$100 oil for an extended time would crash this current economy.

[dissident]

Gotta love that iron-clad, proof-based "consensus" view spouted by the US regime and its fake stream media bootlicks that it was Iran and not Yemen that bombed the Saudi oil facility. The same unadulterated BS as the claims that the regular Russian army is occupying the Donbas and the Kiev coup regime is holding off an invasion. Proof by assertion.

The Saudis are responsible for a famine affecting millions in Yemen. The Saudis are the invaders and mass human rights violators. But they are Uncle Scumbag's protectorate so they can do no wrong and instead we have the endless two minutes' hate aimed at Iran. The US bombed Serbian oil facilities at Pancevo for daring to fight against Albanian ethno-nationalist insurgents in Kosovo and Metohjia, now it is shrieking like some blood hypocrite parasite that Iran is attacking Saudi oil facilities against all morality and order even when Iran is not involved. Go and get f*cked you rotten trash. Nobody appointed you masters of this planet.

[AirlinePilot]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/15/middleea ... index.html

Find it hard to believe no one has posted anything on this yet. Serious implications for global supply over the next 6 months to a year I would think. The other major problem is IF Iran was involved, and it looks like it is possible, any escalation will have major impacts on the price/supply of oil. I have always wondered when this sort of thing might rear its ugly head. Something that bears careful watching IMHO.

[rockdoc123]

I would be surprised if there is a 50% reduction in production for any length of time. Aramco has a lot of experienced people, the equipment and capital to make repairs fairly quickly as long as damage is not too extensive.
Some of the oil finance folks I follow have been suggesting to sell any oil company stocks into a quick rally on Monday when the market opens as they think it won't last very long.
The bigger issue here is it highlighted vulnerability in SA oilfield security and that might bode poorly for near future issues until they can close the holes in their system.

[Plantagenet]

The bigger issue here is it highlighted vulnerability in SA oilfield security and that might bode poorly for near future issues until they can close the holes in their system.

How can KSA close the holes in their security system to prevent drone and/or missile attacks in the future?

The problem here is bigger then just a hole in a security system.... This is a military attack and an act of war against KSA done by Iran and its proxy forces using Iranians drones and/or missiles. This is escalation of past attacks on KSA....so most likely the attacks will continue.

The Houthis in Yemen are claiming credit for this attack, but the Iranians are the ones supplying the Houthis (and Shia militias in Iraq) with advanced weaponry like drones and missiles that are being used in attacks on KSA so ultimately you have to put the blame on the Iranians.

Its hard to see how KSA can stop future attacks without going to war and achieving a complete military victory over the Houthias and/or the Iranians.....and how likely is that?

Cheers!

[BahamasEd]

Its hard to see how KSA can stop future attacks without going to war and achieving a complete military victory over the Houthias and/or the Iranians.....and how likely is that?

I think that KSA has been at war with the Houthias for at least the last 4 years, this is the reason they attacked the KSA. You may want to read up on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Ci ... %93present)

It looks like the KSA has enough oil in storage to continue exports as normal for about 15 days depending on the grades on hand. So it will depend on what part of the plant was destroyed, how it effects production and how long to fix it.

[rockdoc123]

How can KSA close the holes in their security system to prevent drone and/or missile attacks in the future?

same way that any country or company can prevent any kind of attack...surveillance. The Saudis hired a friend of mine who is in the global security business to consult on their systems right after the attack on the compound in Riyadh a few years back. His comment was that although they had lots of trained security their procedures needed a lot of tuning. That is almost certainly an issue here.

The problem here is bigger then just a hole in a security system.... This is a military attack and an act of war against KSA done by Iran and its proxy forces using Iranians drones and/or missiles. This is escalation of past attacks on KSA....so most likely the attacks will continue.

the attack was by north Yemenis rebels. The drones may have been supplied by the Iranians but that doesn't mean they are responsible for an attack although I'm sure they are pleased with the outcome. Improving security is a continuous piece of business in this part of the world, that's why there is endless work for the ex-Blackwater and SAS contingent who are contracting in that area.

Its hard to see how KSA can stop future attacks without going to war and achieving a complete military victory over the Houthias

How many attacks have you heard of in the US by Al Qaeda or the like since 911? I'm sure there are a score that have been stopped before they got very far. Why was that? Increased security, improved security and surveillance. Do you think somehow the Saudis aren't capable of the same thing or that they aren't as we speak getting help from US contractors?

[Ibon]

Its hard to see how KSA can stop future attacks without going to war and achieving a complete military victory over the Houthias and/or the Iranians.....and how likely is that?

Cheers!

Bolton will take care of it. KSA should hire him. He is looking for a job.

[Serial_Worrier]

This is an act of war and I hope KSA wipes out Iran.

[Plantagenet]

This is an act of war and I hope KSA wipes out Iran.

Yes ---this is an act of war but I doubt the KSA military is capable of taking on Iran, especially since Iran has advanced Russian anti-aircraft systems set up in Iran.

Cheers!

[Outcast_Searcher]

The bigger issue here is it highlighted vulnerability in SA oilfield security and that might bode poorly for near future issues until they can close the holes in their system.

How can KSA close the holes in their security system to prevent drone and/or missile attacks in the future?

Well, I thought "Since there are some rather effective anti-missile weapons, how about anti-drone weapons?"

A 5 second google search (try "anti drone weapons") seems to indicate that this is certainly one method which could be used. Not that it's free, of course. And of course, no defense is fool-proof. But just acting like there's nothing which can be done isn't exactly logical.

(This would be on top of the surveillance rockdoc mentioned, to try to stop the attacks from even occurring).

[AirlinePilot]

There is emerging intelligence that the Houthis claiming responsibilty for the attacks had some sort of help from “honorable people inside the Kingdom” Meaning the Saudi Kingdom. Could be a sea change in the conflict, but we will see. My bet is the Saudis get a handle on this quickly. It also plays into thier hands by obviously raising the oil price. Interesting.

[Cog]

Since US assets and miltary personnel have not been attacked by Iran directly, we should limit our actions to defensive measures for now. Should generalized warfare breakout between Iran and the Gulf States, the US will be plenty busy in that limited role.