Saudi Arabia reportedly shuts down half its oil production after drone attack

[jpak]

Source: CNBC

Saudi Arabia is shutting down half of its oil production after drones attacked the world’s largest oil processing facility in the kingdom, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The closure will impact almost five million barrels of crude production a day, about 5% of the world’s daily oil production, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Early Saturday, an oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, was attacked by a number of drones, which sparked a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was one of their largest attacks ever inside the kingdom, the WSJ reported.

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/14/saudi-arabia-is-shutting-down-half-of-its-oil-production-after-drone-attack-wsj-says.html

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[AllaN01Bear]

1. price hikes in 5.4.3.2.1

[KPN]

7. Beat me to it!

Fill up your cars today folks -- and heating oil Monday. The gouge always comes early. Like buying the rumor in the market, those who hesitate ...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. That was my immediate thought

[at140]

33. I will fill up 1st thing early morning.

Thanks for the heads up.

[jpak]

61. I just did - and got 20 gallons extra

Going to order 200 gallons of heating oil first thing....

[at140]

63. Funny..Funny..I was shocked to see the price this morning

It had dropped from $2.34 yesterday to $2.29 this morning...I guess the gas station did not hear the news.

[LudwigPastorius]

2. About 9% of the oil the U.S. imports is from the Saudis.

Looks like we're about to take a hit at the pumps.

I wonder if our artificially-juiced economy can weather this.

[beachbumbob]

24. US oil loves it when prices go up on the world market, it's pure profit to

them. We could see gas over $4/gal in less than a month. $3/gal by end of this week. Gouging is an all American trait.

[at140]

34. Think of the environment benefit if gas goes to $10/gal

People will buy smaller cars and drive less.

[beachbumbob]

45. That would be longterm, but short term, economies crash as

rampant cost increases on everything will happen

[at140]

48. Not necessarily, if only gas price alone is subject to "mileage" tax

Industry does not use gasoline for power. Electric power comes from coal, nuclear, wind, solar, oil.
May be Fedex & UPS will have to jack up prices,
but that will help brick & mortar stores hire more retail workers.

Just look around you. You will see most cars are huge and there is a SINGLE driver.
Even during rush hours. Why people are not sharing more rides to work?

[beachbumbob]

56. Last time I looked, industry and agriculture do use

diesel and diesel will cost more than gas...and hence big built in cost increases will happen...as result of big cost increases in shipping, flying, agriculture....

Travel and vacation sector will be hit hard
RV industry and travel will be hurting

This ain't the first time high energy cost have major economical impact

[at140]

57. Not what I said...increase Federal sales tax on GASOLINE at pump only

Not on diesel or propane or heating oil or any other fuel.
Again the problem is single driver in big cars driving to work, and if improved,
will pay big dividends on carbon emissions without much sacrifice.

I worked on 93rd & Stoney Island in Chicago. I lived in Downers Grove. 25 miles each way.
I shared rides with a guy living in Berwyn. I drove to his house and from then on we alternated driving to work. I think each of us saved 30 miles of driving every other work day. Sure it was more commute time for me, but the savings in gas & wear+tear on car made it worthwhile.

[Bengus81]

46. Peeps can't afford $10 per gallon gas but they have money for a CAR??

Get real,they 10 per gallon hits consumers by the millions overnight. There's no sudden increase in their expendable income to swap cars unless you trade something nice for a beater.

Hell Bush and his THUGS took us into a Great recession with $4.00 gas here in the mid-west.

[at140]

58. Serious climate change problem requires serious solutions

I drive a small car, Chevy Spark, averages 40 mpg, and is one of the cheapest car on market.
If all single driver commuters switched to a similar car, it would make a serious dent in emissions.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

49. +1

Makes alternatives more cost effective.

[at140]

50. Makes me mad to see huge cars with a single driver during

rush hour! Whatever happened to ride sharing? I know what happened,
gas is too fricking cheap and people want convenience of garage to work ride.

[manicdem]

26. Isn't high oil prices a good thing for the environment?

Higher fuel prices mean less fuel used and in turn, less pollution and global warming. The US gas is a lot cheaper than those in other countries, like those in europe. Prices should stay high to reduce use, bring up demand for efficiency, and encourage electric vehicles and renewable energy.

[Kurt V.]

28. +1

[Sapient Donkey]

43. That might be the case, but it ultimately does a lot of harm to lower income people

who may not live in a location where they have access to public transportation or even live in a city where biking or walking is something that's feasible. This is even worse for those who simply cannot find gainful employment near their home, and have no choice but to commute. Sure maybe some will be able to carpool, but that isn't an option for everyone.

This is actually one place that find some progressives/liberals (for sure not all, but there is subset) really have a blind spot in their ability to take on other people's perspectives. Sure, it might be easy for you, me, and them to make up for the differences by not driving to beach or taking needless trips, but many folks already drive the bare minimum and simply skipping coffee (if they even get that) isn't going to be enough to make up for gas hikes. They have to take out predatory payday loans or pawn items to get to work. If they can't do that, then they maybe they lose their job. They lose their job and it all spirals out of control.

It really upsets me whenever I see fellow liberals celebrate higher gas prices. It gets to me the same way as when conservatives talk about how if poor people want better pay then they should go to school and/or move somewhere with better jobs. It ignores all the little details about how that plays out in reality. I'm cool with the idea of promoting more education and even relocating, but be sure to include some plans to make that possible. I'm sure most people who celebrate high gas prices don't argue against that point at all.

More electric vehicles, renewable energy increases, and all that is great, but while promoting/celebrating higher gas prices as a method of doing it be sure to include a plan to immediately help those who will be negatively impacted by such increases.

*This isn't necessarily directed toward you or even anyone here on this thread, but just something I've been seeing in general.

[Newest Reality]

52. ++Good!

[at140]

59. What you said would be true ONLY IF

all single driver commuters were ALREADY driving cars averaging 40 mpg.
But they don't. Look out of your car window during rush hours. You will see big cars
with a single driver. Because people want the convenience of garage to work place commuting convenience

[Sapient Donkey]

62. I am not sure I follow how you're getting to that conclusion.

The people you're talking about are the ones who will be able to weather the increased gas prices. They either have expendable income or they are able to make up for it by cutting back on needless trips or whatever. If everyone fell into that category then I would have fewer objections. However, a lot of people don't fall into that category and literally only have money to pay for gas to do whatever it is they need to do to survive. My concern is for those people. They may or may not be driving larger and/or older gas guzzlers, but they might very be driving those because that's all they have. They don't have the luxury to buy a brand new vehicle. Maybe it was gifted to them. Maybe they got a good deal on it. Maybe they got it in better times when they had more income. Whatever their reasons, the fact is that is what they have and all they have to work with at the moment. Unless we're going start giving people electric or hybrid cars, then I don't think we have any right to judge those people who are just trying to survive. Like I said, this sounds very similar to the "Why do poor people have laptop computers and smart phones?" that we hear from conservatives.

As for the carpooling. Carpooling is great if it works. But that's not always an option. People often commute close to an hour one way, and then those people have other things to do after work. Maybe they have kids who need to be picked up. Maybe they have another job to go to. Have to go shopping or to the bank or whatever.

Now I am not against more electric/hybrid car or carpooling. In fact, I think we should be taking steps that get us toward those goals. But I don't think the way to do it is to promote/celebrate rising gas prices and then tell people it's sink or swim time. In the end the higher income people will be fine, but the low to middle income folks will suffer. Instead, I think we should consider programs that help get people into more efficient cars, build out public transportation, build & promote centrally located carpool parking lots every couple miles to encourage carpooling, etc...

[at140]

64. Please take a minute to read post #57...it is short

When I had a 50 mile round trip commute, I subjected myself to 30 minutes extra time EACH way so I could car pool. I did not need the savings, but did it anyway because burning hydro-carbons excessively can't be good for anybody except the oil companies.

[Sapient Donkey]

65. That's great that you had the ability of doing that.

However, what about people who do not have that luxury? In my experiences, trying to organize to make it so there can be consistent carpooling is difficult to do and maintain. This may be much simpler in places where there are hundreds of employees who all start at the same time since it increases the chances that people who need to be at the same place at the same time live somewhat near each other. What about people who don't go straight from home to work and then back to work? People have other jobs, appointments, kids to pick up, classes etc.. There is only so much time in a day, and if you're adding an extra 30 mins or 40 mins to an already hour long commute, then those people won't be able to do what they need to do.

By all means encourage carpooling, but encourage it by building carpool lanes, building & promoting secure centrally located parking lots every couple miles for people to meet for the the longer leg of the journey. This burden shouldn't be placed solely on the people who can least afford to bear that burden. I'm not sure we're going to come to a full agreement on this, though.

[at140]

66. Average commute time in big cities is 30-40 minutes aprox

You can't tell me people are unwilling to add 10-15 extra minutes commuting time to find ride share.
Actually riding with someone is LOT LESS boring than a commute by yourself.

[Anon-C]

3. Hell of a BC/DR plan, Saudi Aramco.

I love how in those 80s Tom Clancy novels, the Soviets were going to need thousands of tanks to seize Saudi Arabia. Houthies probably using Walmart drones with propane tanks and lighter fluid duct-taped together.

[dalton99a]

8. They're not using hobbyist stuff anymore

The attacks signaled a clear escalation in the ability of the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, to strike at Saudi Arabia, their enemy in Yemen’s civil war. The attacks hit deeper into Saudi territory than previous strikes, reaching targets some 500 miles from Yemen, and the Houthis claimed to have used 10 drones in the operation, which they said was one of the largest aerial operations they have carried out.

Iran has supplied drone technology to the Houthis fighting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, a panel of experts reported in January 2018 to the United Nations Security Council.

United Nations investigators say the Houthis have since obtained a more advanced drone than those cited in that report, with a range of 930 miles, The Associated Press reported.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-refineries-drone-attack.html

[Anon-C]

9. Apparently their capabilities are mature enough.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. And they knew where to explode the devices in order to set off the fires...the drones couldn't...

have carried that much explosive material, or could they?

Controlling these drones also must be done by wifi I am guessing...oh well, the Saudi have billions and probably trillions of dollars, obviously they need to improve their security.

[dalton99a]

16. The new drones from Iran are autonomous and use GPS guidance.

The control technology is decades old and commercially available

[SWBTATTReg]

17. Ah...not surprised. Does make sense tech - wise. Also, I had heard of stories / rumors that the ..

US Military had fleets of these drones operating in such a manner, old piece of news that I heard years ago, but unable to find out anything about it, but like I said, makes sense.

Thanks for the heads up. I did not know about the gps link, nor autonomous abilities (by which I'm assuming you mean that they loaded up the path for the drones to fly, and then explode once they've arrived.

I've always wanted a drone, but for taking pics of my land in the country, but now that I don't have that land anymore, no need to.

Take care!

[Kurt V.]

29. what about the delivery? What's known about that isn't commercially available

[Sapient Donkey]

55. Give some tinkers a decent sum of cash and some time

and they can come up with some solutions if they really wanted to. We're at a the point where technology and knowledge is cheap and accessible that with some motivation most things can probably can be built in someone's backyard or garage. Not saying there is no way this was backed or done by Iran, or done by Saudis themselves, or by some other state actor, but rather that it's not beyond the realm of possibility that some rebels hacked together some rather advanced stuff themselves. I'm kinda surprised we don't see more of it.

[Anon-C]

53. Indeed.

[Maxheader]

19. The kamikazes of ww2..

Were formidable and caused lots of grief for the allies...But one of the reasons they didn't do more damage was they lacked the mass to hole a war ship and sink it...Same for the drones...

[NickB79]

40. Modern-day explosives pack a hell of a punch in a small package

And an oil refinery is a lot more easily set ablaze than a battleship. No need to sink anything, the raging infernos are enough.

[manicdem]

27. big drones likely

These aren't the drones you buy in a store. They have drones the size of Cesnas that can carry a 1,000 lbs. I don't know what they used, but here's an example of a drone the Iranians use. Basically used like a cruise missle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahed_129

[at140]

35. "Shaheed" means

patriotic martyr in South Asian languages.

[dalton99a]

39. Could be their UAV-X/Samad or variant - from the Jan 2019 UN report:

Letter dated 25 January 2019 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen addressed to the President of the Security Council
...

84. Until mid-2018, the ability of the Houthi forces to use loitering munitions against targets beyond the immediate battlefield was restricted by the limited range of the Qasef-1, which, given its maximum range of 150 km, did not allow for strikes beyond Yemen and the southern border regions of Saudi Arabia. In September 2018, the Panel inspected a new type of unmanned aerial vehicle, referred to in the present report as UAV-X, which was characterized by distinctive V-shaped tail fins and a more powerful engine (see annex 12), and which might correspond to what Houthi-affiliated media outlets have referred to as the Samad-2/3 unmanned aerial vehicle. Since then, the Panel has inspected five unmanned aerial vehicles of that type, which had been operated either in reconnaissance or attack roles. In the latter case, they carried a warhead of 18 kg of explosives mixed with ball bearings, which would be an increase in lethality compared with the Qasef-1.

85. The most distinctive feature of the UAV-X is its significantly increased endurance and range. Powered by the Chinese-made DLE 170 or the German-made 3W110i B2 engine, with a top speed of between 200 km/h and 250 km/h, the unmanned aerial vehicle may have a maximum range of between 1,200 km and 1,500 km, depending on wind conditions. It would give credence to the claims by the Houthis that they have the capability to hit targets such as Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The Panel received information that one UAV-X had crashed within 30 km of Riyadh after having run out of fuel, although Saudi Arabia publicly denied that the attack took place.

86. The Panel is of the view that the deployment of loitering munitions against civilian targets, such as the confirmed attacks by Qasef-1 unmanned aerial vehicles on 11 April and 26 May against the civilian airport of Abha in Saudi Arabia and the unconfirmed attack of loitering munitions against the civilian airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the second half of 2018 may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.88

87. Despite repeated requests sent to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Panel was not permitted to inspect the guidance systems of the UAV-X, which could provide clues to the identify the supply network, as well as an indication of possible violations of the targeted arms embargo. However, the Panel is investigating the chain of custody for two 3W110i B2 engines inspected in Abu Dhabi with the serial numbers 1561517 B and 1561528 B, which were manufactured by 3W-Modellmotoren Weinhold GmbH in Hanau, Germany. According to documents obtained by the Panel, the two engines belonged to a shipment of 21 such engines exported in June 2015 to Eurowings Aviation and Consultancy in Athens. The Panel did not consider that to be a violation of the targeted arms embargo on Yemen.
...

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Ugh

When I heard about this story earlier this morning, all I could do was

And of course this is the "winter blend" time of year which starts in many areas ~September 15th (tomorrow) and that could offset an increase in cost although with any little "blip" that has a perception of impacting a plant (opposition attacks, weather, facility fires due to equipment failures, etc), that cost reduction gets wiped out, even if it only represents a small portion of the supply... but it's thanks to the speculators.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. This could be good, at least politically

It will impact inflation and the economy leading up to the general next year.

[Sapient Donkey]

44. That isn't worth the harm this will cause

Bad for lower to middle income people; particularity lower income people. It's awful for the environment directly and indirectly. Directly we have the burning oil. Indirectly if the oil prices stay high for an extended period then that could encourage some of the more damaging and expensive oil operations to kick back into operation. Higher oil prices gives Russia more leverage, or rather removes leverage that other nations have over it. Not to mention the possible war that could come from this if things really go sideways.

I don't see this as a good thing in any possible way.

[dalton99a]

6. Satellite image:

This Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, satellite image provided by NASA Worldview shows fires following Yemen's Houthi rebels claiming a drone attack on two major oil installations in eastern Saudi Arabia. The drones attacked the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early Saturday, sparking a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies. The island shown in the image is Bahrain, while the peninsula in the image is Qatar. (NASA Worldview via AP)

[hatrack]

14. Bahrain is about 30 miles long, so yeah, judging by the smoke plume . . .

I'd say they well and truly fucked things up

[Strelnikov_]

38. Yep, they blowed it up, real good.

Thing is, I was posting here in 2005 about the vulnerability of the Abqaiq facility.

Not that I am a seer, simply a result of information gained during the last oil scare.

Quick summary (all from memory) , Abqaiq is a desulpherization/degassification/pumping facility that serves the mother field, Ghawar, that a decade ago through which 60% of KSA's oil flowed.

The problem is, it is dependent on ten (twelve?) large compressor facilities that would take 12 to 18 months to replace due to the size/uniqueness of the machines.

This facility has been on Al Queda's (tried to hit it land based a few times) and Iran's target list for a while. Iran's ballistic missile program has been a minor concern, but the accuracy of said missiles limited probability of a major hit.

Seems drones have solved that problem.

The vast majority of the Persian Gulf petroleum resources, representing 50% of the worlds export market, passes through 8 to 10 major facilities.

This is a major event.

[DFW]

11. "As always, should you or any of your drone team be caught or killed...."

"The Ayatollah will deny any knowledge of your actions. Good luck Mahmoud!"

Nice bit of diplomacy, Trumpanzees!

[earthside]

12. Here it is: the total complete failure of Trump's "non-foreign policy"

Trump is all about personal relationships he says.

So here we are with no U.S. initiative for peace in Yeman and Trump just being good buddies with the murderous Saudi crown prince.

[Buckeyeblue]

13. Putin needs the price of oil to be higher to make Russian drilling profitable

But I don't know if he would go after SA at this point. But I think the Saudi's are one of our biggest enemies. The oil production won't stay down long because they can't afford that.

[at140]

37. Correct, and Trump is looking for an excuse to attack Iran

but there has to be concrete evidence before Trump dares to start a war with Iran.

[Mosby]

51. It also benefits Iran and Venezuela.

KSA has been "overproducing" for years now to hold down the price. It also hurts the US frackers so that's a good thing.

[slumcamper]

15. Environmental catastrophe. Don't overlook that "price," folks. n/t

[Owl]

30. Exactly. This is horrible.

[underpants]

32. Thank you

🙏

[RockRaven]

20. Watch -- this WILL be used by KSA/UAE/etc to manipulate Trump.

Last edited Sat Sep 14, 2019, 03:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Interesting timing, this happens right after Trump gets rid of his rabidly-pro-war-with-Iran NSA... precisely *because* he was more pro-war-with-Iran than Trump -- Trump just wants to talk tough but not actually fight as a preamble to a phoney-baloney "deal."

[Sapient Donkey]

42. Too many people in this world want war.

Each side seems to want to give the other side the reasons they need to go to war too.

[Takket]

21. How will the Saudis respond, I wonder

[roamer65]

22. Here comes an oil shock.

I say up by $10 a barrel as soon as trading opens on Monday.

Just wait until the hit the Saudis main terminal at Ras Tanura. All hell will break loose in the oil markets.

[paleotn]

23. The proxy war heats up.

I have zero confidence our current admin will handle this well. And just what the global economy needs right now...an energy shock. Then again, a bad economy kicks the last leg out from under IQ45's stool in 2020. Strange world we live in.

[SCVDem]

25. Didn't the orange ass say

we were energy independent?

What does that mean if the price goes up?

[underpants]

31. Came home from dinner to see this. WOW.

[at140]

36. Depending on evidence, this could start a war

between S Arabia and Iran. Trump will join SA and Putin will side with Iran.

[NickB79]

41. WW3 in that case

Pray no one pops of a nuke.

[at140]

47. I don't think Saudi's are going to take this lying down

when half of their income producing infrastructure is destroyed.

[JonLP24]

68. They have already been bombing Yemen so they haven't been lying down at all

I'm not sure there is much worse than what they already are doing but if anyone is capable of going lower it is the House of Saud.

[cilla4progress]

54. Gee, sure hope

it doesn't hurt "the drumpf economy"

[Stuart G]

60. 5 % of daily production? What about the other 95 percent? I think "THE OTHER" can cover. Don't You?

What other countries produce this stuff? Mexico, United States, Venezuela, other Mid East countries. You tell me? I don't know all of this one. Sure, initial uptake in price. What else is new? Then "THE OTHER" fill the gap in production. Do you think that "THE OTHER" can increase production to cover? Well I do.

[at140]

69. Iran has surplus oil due to sanctions

[Sherman A1]

70. Fill up as soon as you can

It’s going to go up.