look news india
Amidst the turbulent environment of West Asia, a major crisis has once again arisen regarding the security of Saudi Arabia’s strategic oil installations. A suspected drone attack has been targeted at a major processing plant located in the Shaybah oil field of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest crude oil exporter. Saudi Arabia’s air defense system, sensing the danger in time, intercepted and destroyed the drone in the air, but due to its burning debris and shrapnel falling down, two foreign employees working on the spot died tragically, while an Indian and a Pakistani citizen were seriously injured. After this latest development, high alert has been issued in the energy plants of the Gulf region and a wave of tension has run in the international oil markets.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy has officially confirmed this attack and the subsequent damage. According to the official statement issued by the ministry, this drone was sent with the intention of targeting the processing unit of Aramco’s Shaybah project located in the Eastern Province. The Saudi defense system showed promptness and destroyed the drone in the sky before it could reach the target. However, after the explosion, pieces of heavy metal and burning debris fell directly into the working area on the ground. Two migrants from Nepal and Philippines lost their lives on the spot after being hit by this debris. Among the two injured employees, one is an Indian citizen and the other is a Pakistani worker. The injured were immediately rescued and admitted to the nearest medical center, where a team of doctors is constantly monitoring their condition.
Aramco’s Shaybah facility is one of Saudi Arabia’s most important and sensitive oil fields, producing millions of barrels of high-quality super-light crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) per day. After the fall of the drone debris, a fire was reported in a limited part of the plant, which was completely extinguished within a short time by Aramco’s emergency firefighting and disaster management team. According to officials, there has been no structural damage to the main storage and crude processing pipelines and oil production operations are continuing at normal pace. However, security has been tightened in and around the plant and sensitive areas and additional air defense artillery has been deployed.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have previously carried out dozens of attacks on international airports, refineries and oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with ballistic missiles and long-range suicide drones. Although there has been no formal statement of responsibility from the Houthi leadership regarding this latest incident, and Saudi officials have also said that instead of naming any specific organization, they will start an overall investigation, but the pattern and target of the attack directly matches the old working style of the Houthi rebels. This incident of targeting of ground oil installations amidst the ongoing attacks on ships in the Red Sea is being considered a sign of renewed conflict in the entire Middle East.
Lakhs of Indian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are providing their services in oil, gas, construction and IT sectors. As soon as the news of an Indian citizen being injured in the attack became public, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and Jeddah Consulate immediately contacted the Saudi administration and local Aramco officials. Steps are being taken by diplomatic officials to ensure the identity, medical condition and all possible medical assistance of the injured Indian worker. The process of contacting the victim’s family has also been started. After this incident, there is a deep concern about security among Asian workers and their families working in Gulf countries, in view of which multinational companies have been instructed to re-review their risk policies and shelter protocols.