Kuwait, on Thursday, said that a drone attack sparked a massive fire at an oil refinery in the small, oil-rich nation. The state-run KUNA news agency cited the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. for the announcement. Kuwait also said a second oil refinery is ablaze after a drone attack, reported the news agency AP. It said the drone attack sparked a fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery but caused no injuries. The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 7,30,000 barrels per day.
Iran intensifies its attacks on Gulf nations
The development comes as Iran intensified its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours’ energy infrastructure on Thursday, setting Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and a Kuwaiti oil refinery ablaze as it hit back following an Israeli attack on its main natural gas field, a major escalation in the Mideast war that has sent global fuel prices soaring.
A ship burned off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and another was damaged off of Qatar, underscoring the ever-present danger facing vessels due to Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, a key source of natural gas for world markets, said firefighters put out a blaze at a major LNG facility after it was hit by Iranian missile attacks.
Production had already been halted there after earlier attacks, but it said the latest wave of missiles caused “sizeable fires and extensive further damage.”
Damage to the facility could delay Qatar in getting its supplies to the market even after the Iran war ends. A drone attack on Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery sparked a fire but caused no injuries, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.
Oil refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East
The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 7,30,000 barrels per day. Authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were forced to shut down operations at its Habshan gas facility and Bab field, calling Iranian overnight attacks on the sites a “dangerous escalation.”
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates all denounced the Iranian attacks, with Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat saying assaults on the kingdom meant “what little trust there was before has completely been shattered.”
In morning trading, Brent crude oil, the international standard, was above USD 110 a barrel, up more than 50 per cent since Israel and the United States started the war February 28 with strikes on Iran.
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