Saudi refinery shut, Qatar LNG output hit amid Iranian strikes

Saudi Arabia shut its biggest domestic oil refinery on Monday after a drone strike, a source said, as Israeli and US strikes and Iranian retaliation triggered precautionary shutdowns of oil and gas facilities across the West Asia.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco’s 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) Ras Tanura refinery, which was shut as a precautionary measure according to an industry source, is part of an energy complex on the kingdom’s Gulf coast which also serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude oil.

Qatar also halted its production of liquefied natural gas on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes against it, prompting precautionary shutdowns of oil and gas facilities across the West Asia.

QatarEnergy, a state-owned petroleum firm, on its official X, wrote, “QatarEnergy to stop production of LNG. Due to military attacks on QatarEnergy’s operating facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City in the State of Qatar, QatarEnergy has ceased production of LNG products.” Qatar is India’s major supplier of energy requirements, providing about 42 per cent of its LNG to India, according to report by Statista.

In Iraqi Kurdistan that exported 200,000 barrels of oil per day via pipeline to Turkish port in February, firms have halted output at fields.