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Iran Strikes Saudi Red Sea Refinery as Oil Threats Escalate
The attack on the SAMREF refinery is part of a series of strikes on Gulf energy facilities amid Iran's evacuation warnings and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of global oil.
- Thursday reports said the SAMREF refinery at Yanbu was targeted in an aerial attack, with minimal impact, operated by Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil.
- Following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian energy sites, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued evacuation warnings and presented strikes as retaliation, including targeting SAMREF.
- Yanbu has become a key Gulf export outlet since the Strait was shut, and Saudi forces intercepted four ballistic missiles toward Riyadh while the UAE halted Habshan operations.
- Intensifying strikes have raised concerns about the safety of critical energy infrastructure, while a social media purported video of the refinery burning could not be independently verified and loadings at ports remained unclear on Thursday.
- With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, its typical movement of a fifth of global oil risks wider crude-export disruptions and impacts global markets.
47 Articles
47 Articles
Oil Hits $120 Amid Iran Conflict.
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: Brent crude surged to nearly $120 a barrel amid escalating Middle East tensions, before retreating later in the morning.WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and QatarEnergy, among others.WHEN & WHERE: Events unfolded Wednesday night into Thursday across the Middle East, including strikes in Iran and Saudi Arabia, and damage in Qatar.KEY QUOTE: “The U.S. would destroy Iran’s South Pars gas fiel…
A drone struck the Samref refinery in Saudi Arabia, which is owned by both Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, and Exxon, which holds a 50% stake.
Qatar Hit, Saudi Burning: Will Trump Escalate Now?
What is unfolding across the Gulf is not a series of isolated strikes, but the opening phase of a new kind of war—one aimed not at territory, but at the arteries of the global economy. Iran’s coordinated UAV and missile attacks on oil refineries in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar signal a deliberate transition from proxy confrontation to direct economic warfare. This is not escalation for signaling purposes. It is escalation designed to reshape …
The energy truce in the Gulf broke at dawn today, March 19, 2026. An attack drone hit the Saudi refinery Samref, located in the heart of Yanbu industrial zone, strategic hub on the banks of the Red Sea
Iran strikes Saudi Arabia's Samref refinery, oil and gas sites in Kuwait
Iran has launched retaliatory drone attacks on multiple energy infrastructure sites across West Asia, targeting oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. A drone struck Saudi Arabia's Samref refinery in Yanbu on the Red Sea, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil that processes over 400,000 barrels per day of Arabian light crude oil. The Saudi defence ministry confirmed the strike and stated that damage asse
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