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Saudi Aramco has shut down its Jazan oil refinery after a Houthi missile and drone attack damaged key facilities at the site, according to reports.
The refinery, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude per day, suffered damage to its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area. Repairs are expected to be completed and operations to resume by Aug. 15, according to a note from consultancy IIR.
Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery is one of the company's newest and most advanced refining complexes.
Located on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast in Jazan Province, near the Yemeni border, the facility was built as part of the broader Jazan Economic City project to spur industrial development in the kingdom's southwest.
It produces ultra-low sulfur gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, benzene and sulfur for domestic and export markets. Commercial operations began in the early 2020s after several years of construction.
The refinery is integrated with a large terminal on the Red Sea, allowing refined products to be shipped directly to international markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Because of its location about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Yemeni border, the Jazan complex has repeatedly been viewed as one of Saudi Arabia's most exposed energy assets during periods of heightened tensions with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group said it launched coordinated attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities in Jazan and Yanbu on Saturday, firing missiles and drones in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Hodeidah.
Tensions escalated between both sides when the Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, warning commercial shipping companies against calling at Saudi ports and threatening to target the kingdom's oil industry along the Red Sea.
The move raised fears that disruptions to energy supplies could spread beyond the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb shipping lane.
Saudi-backed forces responded on Friday with airstrikes on Houthi military positions in Yemen's Hodeidah governorate, saying the targets were linked to attacks on commercial shipping.
On Monday, the Houthis claimed another attack targeting Saudi Arabia's east-west oil transport network linking the kingdom's eastern oil fields with the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu.
Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the route to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, making it a strategic target as regional tensions continue to rise.
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