Fire at Saudi Arabia’s 400,000 bpd Jazan refinery brought under control

Saudi Arabia's energy ministry confirmed that a fire at the 400,000-barrel-per-day Jazan refinery, situated on the kingdom's western coast near the Red Sea border with Yemen, was extinguished on Sunday without any reported casualties. The industrial firefighting teams of Saudi Aramco, the refinery's operator, put out the blaze early in the morning. The ministry has not disclosed the cause of the fire.

The Jazan refinery has been under scrutiny following a series of threats by Houthi rebels in recent weeks. Saudi Aramco had to shut down the facility on July 27 after the Houthis attacked its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle complex and tank farm, as reported by consultancy IIR. The Houthi group had previously claimed responsibility for targeting Aramco facilities in Jazan and Yanbu.

Despite reported attacks on Aramco's facilities, including the Jazan refinery, CEO Amin Nasser assured that production, exports, and domestic fuel supplies were unaffected. He also stated that Aramco could restore damaged facilities at six times the speed of the industry average and resume pre-conflict production within days once conditions permit.

The ongoing attacks have heightened concerns about the potential disruption to Red Sea shipping and Saudi oil infrastructure amid the US-Israeli war against Iran and Iranian attacks on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz. In late August, the Houthi militia declared a naval blockade in the Red Sea, citing the kingdom's siege of Yemen, an assertion Riyadh denies.