Saudi Arabia's Aramco shuts Ras Tanura refinery after drone strike amid Tehran retaliation

Saudi Arabia's state oil giant Aramco shut its Ras Tanura refinery following a suspected drone strike, Reuters reported on Monday. The refinery was shut down after Tehran launched strikes across the region in response to the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

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Located on Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast, the Ras Tanura complex houses one of the Middle East's largest refineries, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd). It also serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude, making it central not just to the kingdom's output but to global supply chains.

The shutdown comes amid a widening wave of attacks across the Gulf. Drone strikes have also hit Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Manama, and Oman's commercial port area of Duqm.

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The assaults have paralysed major shipping hubs in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, disrupting logistics and raising concerns over energy flows through one of the world's most strategic corridors.

Brent crude futures surged roughly 10% on Monday as traders weighed the risks to infrastructure and exports from a region that anchors global supply.

In September 2019, unprecedented drone and missile strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom's crude production, sending shockwaves through international markets and exposing vulnerabilities in even heavily fortified installations.

(With inputs from Reuters)