Journalists visit sites affected by Saudi Aramco attack

Journalists visit sites affected by Saudi Aramco attack
September 20, 2019, 12:02 pm

More than 80 journalists visited the site and saw the effect of the damage from the attacks on September 14. (SPA)

More than 80 international journalists visited on Friday the site of a strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry that shook global energy markets over the weekend.

The journalists arrived at Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility, described by Saudi Aramco as “the largest crude oil stabilization plant in the world.”

Saudi Arabia also flew journalists to its Khurais oil field to see the damage from the attack. The oil field is believed to produce over 1 million barrels of crude oil a day. It has estimated reserves of over 20 billion barrels of oil, according to Aramco.

Officials said 110 contractors evacuated the site after the attack, but there were no injuries. They told journalists the oil field was back online within 24 hours of the attack.

An oil stabilization tower could be seen to be damaged by the attack, standing charred in the heat of Friday afternoon in the Saudi desert. Other pipes bore holes from damage in the attack.

The Abqaiq facility processes sour crude oil into sweet crude, then transports it onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea or to refineries for local production. Estimates suggest it can process up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day.

By comparison, Saudi Arabia produced 9.65 million barrels of crude oil a day in July.