Houthis Say They Hit Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia’s Biggest Refinery

The Houthis say a ballistic missile hit Saudi Arabia’s 550,000-barrel-a-day Ras Tanura refinery on October 27. Riyadh has not confirmed any damage.

Tarut Bay and the Ras Tanura peninsula (right), whose tip holds the oil terminal’s storage tanks and export piers, seen from the International Space Station on February 24, 2013; file photo.NASA photo ISS034-E-053513 by the Expedition 34 crew, courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center; edit by Julian Herzog (public domain) · NASA Johnson Space Center via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Lucas VaneDirector and Chief EditorOctober 28, 20265 min read

In this article

Context

The Houthis say a ballistic missile struck Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, on October 27, and that it set the complex on fire. Reuters reported the claim from the movement’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, and said Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm it. A fire near the site’s export terminal was contained within hours, according to a person familiar with the matter quoted by Bloomberg, but Riyadh has published no damage report.

The claim came a day after the Houthis said they had struck pumping stations on the East-West pipeline, the line that now carries most of the kingdom’s crude to the Red Sea. Taken together, the two claims point at both ends of the Saudi oil system: the pipeline that exports it and the Gulf coast plants that refine it.

Key takeaways

The Houthis claim a ballistic missile hit the 550,000-barrel-a-day Ras Tanura refinery on October 27. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed any damage.
The Saudi-led coalition said the same day that it destroyed two ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh and three missiles and four drones heading for the Eastern Province.
Ras Tanura is about 1,260 kilometres from the Houthi stronghold of Saada, the far side of the kingdom from Yemen, so the claim is above all a statement of reach.
Oil moved little on the news. Brent was up 0.6 percent at $116.50 a barrel on the morning of the claim, a sign that traders see a risk premium, not lost barrels.

What happened at Ras Tanura on October 27?

Saree said the missile hit “the biggest in the kingdom,” meaning the refinery, and caused large fires. A fire did break out near the Ras Tanura oil export terminal early on Tuesday, Türkiye Today reported, citing Bloomberg, and it was contained hours later. The coalition’s statement that morning said its air defences had intercepted three ballistic missiles and four drones fired towards the Eastern Province. It did not mention Ras Tanura or say what caused the fire.

In the afternoon, Riyadh’s civil defence sounded an air raid alert, and the coalition said it had “intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles” aimed at the capital. The Houthis also claimed to have hit two military transport aircraft at Najran Airport and an air base at Khamis Mushait in the south. Neither claim has been confirmed. Reuters noted that the refinery had been shut for a period early in the Iran war as a precaution.

So three facts are established: missiles and drones were fired at the Eastern Province, a fire broke out near the terminal, and it was contained. What is not established is whether a Houthi missile caused that fire or was shot down before it reached the coast.

Analysis

Why would the Houthis aim at Ras Tanura?

Ras Tanura sits on the Gulf coast north of Dammam, about 1,260 kilometres in a straight line from Saada and roughly 1,400 kilometres from Sanaa. A missile that reaches it can reach almost any target in Saudi Arabia. Claiming the kingdom’s biggest refinery tells Riyadh, and the oil market, that no part of the Saudi energy system sits outside the range of the movement’s arsenal.

The timing matters too. Since the Iran war largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has relied on the East-West pipeline to move its crude to Yanbu on the Red Sea. Only about four ships a day now cross Hormuz, as our Strait of Hormuz shipping explainer sets out. The Houthis claimed hits on that pipeline twice in three days, most recently on October 26, as we reported in what the Houthis hit on the East-West pipeline. Ras Tanura is the other half of the system: the plant that turns Eastern Province crude into fuel for the kingdom and for export.

A claimed strike costs the Houthis little even when it fails. Every missile Riyadh intercepts uses up costly interceptors, and every fire near an export terminal adds to the war risk that shippers and insurers price in. The coalition’s answer has been to hit launchers and missile stores inside Yemen, which it says it did again this week. That has not stopped the launches. The October 10 attack on Riyadh’s airport, which killed 13 people, shows that some missiles still get through, as we explained in why Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia still get through.

What is Ras Tanura and why does it matter?

Ras Tanura is a narrow peninsula on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, in the Eastern Province, enclosing Tarut Bay north of Dammam and Qatif. Saudi Aramco has refined crude there since the 1940s. Today the refinery can process about 550,000 barrels a day, the largest in the kingdom, and the adjoining terminal is one of Saudi Arabia’s main crude export points.

That combination makes it one of the most valuable industrial sites in the Gulf, and a recurring target. In March 2021, during the earlier Saudi-Houthi war, Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said a drone launched from the sea hit a petroleum tank farm at the Ras Tanura port. The coalition now reports intercepting most incoming missiles and drones, but not all of them.

While Hormuz stays largely shut, the oil Ras Tanura can ship is limited. But a refinery of that size cannot be replaced quickly, and lasting damage there would tighten a market that is already paying more than $110 a barrel.

Analysis

What is the oil market pricing?

Brent rose 0.6 percent to $116.50 a barrel and US crude 0.7 percent to $102.50 by 08:25 GMT on October 27, according to Türkiye Today, a modest move for a claimed hit on the kingdom’s biggest refinery. Prices were already high after a month of attacks on Saudi energy sites.

With no confirmed production loss and Ras Tanura’s exports already squeezed by the near-closure of Hormuz, traders are paying a risk premium, not reacting to lost barrels. That changes fast if Aramco reports damage, or if the East-West pipeline goes down again as it did in September.

What to watch next

The Houthi claim on Ras Tanura is unproven, but its purpose is not. Two days, two claimed strikes on the two pillars of Saudi oil, and missiles at the capital in between: the movement is running an energy campaign against the kingdom, and it wants Riyadh to know that distance offers no protection.

The next signs will come from Aramco and from orbit. An Aramco statement or commercial satellite images of the refinery would settle what burned. Flows on the East-West pipeline, already short of its seven-million-barrel rating, will show whether the campaign is costing Saudi Arabia barrels. The coalition’s pledge to dismantle the Houthi missile network will be measured by one number: whether the launches slow down.