Saudi Aramco-TotalEnergies refinery damaged in Iran attack

TotalEnergies said on Friday that a processing unit at its SATORP refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia was damaged this week, forcing a shutdown amid the Iranian assault on Saudi energy infrastructure.

The facility, a joint venture between the Paris-based oil and gas company and Saudi Aramco, is one of the kingdom’s largest refining and petrochemical complexes, processing about 465,000 barrels a day in the port city of Jubail.

The overnight strikes between Tuesday and Wednesday also hit oilfields, refineries and a pumping station on the East-West pipeline, cutting Saudi production capacity by about 600,000 barrels a day and reducing pipeline flows by roughly 700,000 barrels a day. They came as the ceasefire agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran was due to take effect.

The pipeline, which runs from the Gulf to the Red Sea, has become Saudi Arabia’s main alternative to shipping crude through the Strait of Hormuz, making the damage especially significant as Iran restricts tanker traffic through the waterway.

Oil prices rose following the strikes on Saudi facilities, with markets reacting to the combined loss of production and disruption to alternative export routes.