India condemns drone attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia

New Delhi, September 16: Strongly condemning the drone attacks targeting two oil facilities on Saturday, India stood with Saudi Arabia for this incident. In a statement today, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated India's resolve to oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

 

Meanwhile, the US has issued satellite images and cited intelligence to back its claim that Iran was behind the drone attacks on Abqaiq, the site of the largest oil processing plant run by the Saudi state oil company, Aramco, and the Khurais oilfield. The attacks were claimed by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Iran has denied involvement in the attacks.

The attacks shutting 5 per cent of global crude output caused the biggest surge in oil prices since 1991. The price rose 20 per cent today but fell back later.

The attack Saturday struck the world’s biggest crude-processing facility in Abqaiq and the kingdom’s second-biggest oil field in Khurais, exposing vulnerability at the heart of the global oil market.

A satellite picture from a NASA near real-time imaging system published early on Sunday, more than 24 hours after the attack, showed the huge smoke plume over Abqaiq had dissipated completely. But four additional plumes to the south-west, over the Ghawar oilfield, the world’s largest, were still clearly visible.