Missile causes explosion at Saudi oil storage facility
25 November 2020
A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels caused an explosion at a petroleum products distribution plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 23. No one was injured in the attack on Saudi Aramco’s North Jeddah Bulk Plant which caused damage to an oil storage tank.

Representative image: Shutterstock
Saudi Aramco has said that domestic fuel supplies have no been affected by the incident and that operations resumed at the plant just three hours after the explosion.
According to Reuters news agency, Saudi authorities confirmed a missile had hit the Saudi Aramco plant and said it was fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen. Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia sent a letter to the UN Security Council stating that it had identified the Houthis as being responsible for the “terrorist attack” and that it would spare no efforts in protecting its territory and citizens.
The Manager of the North Jeddah Bulk Plant told reporters on November 24 that one of the facility’s 13 storage tanks was out of action following the missile attack. The missile struck the tank which has a capacity of 500,000 barrels, causing major damage to its roof and causing a fire.
The blaze was extinguished after 40 minutes thanks to the speed of the facility’s response team which started a firefighting system attached to the tank within a minute of the explosion.
The North Jeddah site has a total storage capacity of 5.2 million barrels and can distribute more than 120,000 barrels of products per day domestically.
More information...