Terrorists Attack Saudi Oil Fields, Send Prices Soaring

Drone strikes said to be initiated by Iran attacked an oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, September 14. The attack destroyed 5.7 million barrels of crude oil, which amounts to 50 percent of the Middle Eastern kingdom's daily oil production.

The strikes, which came at dawn, hit the Abqaiq oil facility as well as the nearby Khurals oil field.

Aside from eliminating half of the country's barrels per day (bpd) production, the attack also destroyed all the oil reserves available should any major disruption occur in global oil supplies, and forced Saudi to use its 2 million bpd of spare oil production.

With the Kingdom;s oil output reduced by more than 50 percent, officials say it will take weeks for operations to return to normal.

By Monday, oil prices had increased by over 10 percent on world markets.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Western and Saudi officials are dubious on the claim, as the drones did not come from Yemen's direction. Stakeholders are placing the blame on Iran, a known backer of the Houthis.