Fire at Aramco facility in Jizan extinguished after claimed Houthi drone strike
A fire at a facility belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the coastal city of Jizan has been extinguished, according to the Saudi Energy Ministry. The blaze broke out early on Sunday at the site near Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen. Authorities said no casualties were reported.
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The ministry said the competent authorities were completing the necessary procedures to deal with the incident. Yemen's Houthi armed group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted the Aramco refinery in Jizan with a drone. The group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the strike was precise and was carried out in response to what he described as Saudi violations of the airspace of Saada and Hajjah provinces.
There was no immediate public comment from Riyadh on the Houthi claim. The incident adds to a series of attacks and claimed attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, which has repeatedly been targeted during the wider conflict involving the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government. Jizan's location on the Red Sea and close to the Yemeni frontier makes it strategically significant for Saudi energy security.
The reported fire comes against a backdrop of continuing regional tension around oil facilities and shipping routes. The Houthis have previously claimed strikes on Aramco sites in Jizan and on oil installations in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia's main west coast export gateway. Aramco chief Amin Nasser said recently that attacks on the company's facilities had caused some production interruptions, although he said he expected operations to recover quickly and that the incidents had no material operational or financial impact.
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The latest claim also comes as strains remain on the 2022 truce in Yemen's war. The Houthis, who took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, have also declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, raising concerns about shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Saudi authorities have also blamed Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq for attacks on oil facilities, underlining the broader regional security risks facing energy infrastructure.
What remains unclear is whether the fire was caused by the claimed drone strike or by another incident at the site. Saudi authorities have not publicly detailed the cause, and it is not clear what damage, if any, was sustained beyond the fire itself. Further official statements are likely to focus on the investigation, the condition of the facility, and whether operations were disrupted.
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