Houthi attacks on Red Sea oil facilities exacerbate European energy crisis

The attacks made by terrorist Houthi militias on oil facilities overlooking the Red Sea come at a time when the markets of oil and its derivatives experience a lack of visibility at the international level due to geopolitical conflicts, specifically the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The sabotage and terrorist acts resulting from the drone attacks by the Iranian-backed terrorist militias not only target civilian facilities and the security of domestic energy supplies in Saudi Arabia, but also global energy security. This is because the Kingdom’s exports of petroleum products go mostly to the European market, which is experiencing a worsening energy crisis.

The Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) Ltd., a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), uses 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Arabian heavy crude oil to produce premium transportation fuels, in addition to the high-value refined products demanded by both local and international markets.

The volume of petroleum derivatives exports from the Kingdom is about 1.6 million barrels per day. So, if such terrorist acts against civil and economic facilities are not deterred and prevented by the countries and organizations of the world, the repetition of such a hostile attack on petroleum products distribution stations will badly affect the supply of petroleum products locally and globally.

Thus, an energy supply crisis may occur not only locally, but global demand will also be affected. Such a sabotage attack will have an impact on the exports of petroleum products, most of which go to the European market, which is experiencing a worsening energy crisis even before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Thanks to more than 5 million barrels per day locally and globally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest refining capacities of refineries in the world. This actually makes its supply of oil and its derivatives the only hope for Europe and the world to alleviate the worsening energy crisis in light of the current global conditions. This means that any damage to the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia could completely paralyze the whole world.