Saudi Arabia has said oil infrastructure sites belonging to the country’s state-run oil company Aramco have been targeted and that at least one of the attacks was carried out by drone strikes.
The announcement came shortly after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an assault on the kingdom.
The state Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih as saying that between 6-6.30am on Tuesday, a petroleum pumping station supplying an east-west pipeline between the Eastern Province and to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea was targeted by drones.
He said a fire broke out at a station along the pipeline and was subsequently put out.
Aramco has temporarily stopped pumping petroleum through the pipeline until inspection of the damage is complete.
The kingdom’s state security body also says two oil infrastructure sites in the greater region of Riyadh, its landlocked capital, were targeted at the same time.
The statement described it as a “limited targeting” of petroleum stations in areas al-Dudami and Afif in Riyadh region.
The spokesman for the rebels, Mohammed Abdel-Salam, said the Houthis launched a series of drone attacks on the kingdom.
He said: “This is a message to Saudi Arabia, stop your aggression.”
Mr Abdel-Salam also said: “Our goal is to respond to the crimes they are committing every day against the Yemeni people.”
