(Replace) March 2, 2026, 3:25 PM GMT: Article up to date all through with Saudi statements, disruptions to financial system.
For nearly three days, there was little signal of a brand new warfare raging within the Gulf should you had been based mostly in Saudi Arabia. Most colleges had been enterprise as standard on Monday morning, Saudis and foreigners reported heading to the workplace and carrying on with conferences, and flights continued to function.
That now has the potential to shift after an space housing the nation’s largest oil refinery suffered a drone strike and the dominion reported intercepting a number of drones heading for Riyadh.
- Advertisement -
Saudi Aramco has since shut the Ras Tanura plant on the Persian Gulf whereas it assesses damages, Bloomberg reported. The dominion confirmed some items are down and mentioned a hearth on the website was brought on by particles from the interception of two drones aiming for the refinery.
An Iranian navy supply instructed the semi-official Mehr information company that regional oil services usually are not the goal of Tehran’s assaults.
Even so, the motion round Ras Tanura stands to change the calculus for Saudi Arabia. It is the primary main impression with potential fallouts for the dominion’s $1.3 trillion financial system since Iran started attacking Gulf states on Saturday in response to the Israel-US bombardment.
Any direct menace to prized oil belongings could also be considerably of a pink line for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has lately tried to stay impartial in regional conflicts to keep away from setbacks to his financial diversification agenda. MBS, because the de-facto chief is thought, has denied US warplanes the choice to make use of Saudi airspace to strike Iran.
“The assault on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a big escalation, with Gulf vitality infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” mentioned Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Center East analyst in danger intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. “The assault can be prone to transfer Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf states nearer to becoming a member of US and Israeli navy operations towards Iran.”
Up till a number of years in the past, it wasn’t unusual for Saudi oil installations to be the goal of assaults. In 2022, Yemen’s Houthi rebels focused an Aramco oil depot in Jeddah, prompting retaliation by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
The dominion’s frustration with Iran had already gave the impression to be rising within the advance of Monday’s assault. On Sunday, it warned of penalties to Iranian actions, known as on the worldwide group for a agency response and summoned the Iranian envoy to the dominion.
Ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council nations additionally gathered to debate the opportunity of coordinating steps to halt what they’ve known as “treacherous” and “heinous” actions by Tehran.
Saudi Arabia confirmed the interception of 5 drones concentrating on belongings in Riyadh on Monday, together with the Prince Sultan US air base about 60 miles outdoors the capital.
Air visitors in Riyadh continued with restricted disruption as of this afternoon however flights have slowed from the King Fahd Worldwide Airport close to Aramco’s greatest oil fields since this morning. Journey is lower than standard because the holy month of Ramadan is underway within the kingdom.
Saudi Arabian equities closed little modified after struggling their steepest drop in nearly a 12 months on Sunday. Shares of Aramco rose to the very best since Might.
As Monday night time approached within the area, there was no signal of let-up within the warfare.
The battle continued to reverberate throughout the Center East, with blasts heard throughout Israel, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as states intercepted Iranian missiles. In Lebanon, Israel bombed Beirut, opening a brand new entrance within the battle. Three warplanes crashed in Kuwait after being mistakenly shot down by native air defenses, the US mentioned.
US President Donald Trump mentioned a bombing marketing campaign towards Iran – which started in alliance with Israel on Saturday after what he known as Iran’s refusal to resign nuclear weapons – will proceed, maybe for weeks.
What do you assume? We’d love to listen to from you, be a part of the dialog on the
Rigzone Vitality Community.
The Rigzone Vitality Community is a brand new social expertise created for you and all vitality professionals to Communicate Up about our trade, share information, join with friends and trade insiders and interact in an expert group that can empower your profession in vitality.
