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Oil loading at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah export terminal resumed on Sunday after a drone strike and fire temporarily halted activity at the Gulf energy hub over the weekend, reports say.
The disruption began Saturday when multiple drones struck oil storage facilities at the Port of Fujairah, igniting a fire that sent heavy smoke over the port area and forced a temporary suspension of some loading operations.
Industry sources told Reuters that loading operations restarted after the fire was contained and port activity gradually resumed.
The port, located on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, serves as a major outlet for Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude. Around 1 million barrels per day of this grade are shipped through the facility, equivalent to roughly 1% of global oil demand.
Energy infrastructure in the emirate is operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which manages production and export logistics connected to the terminal.
Fujairah holds strategic importance because it allows Gulf producers to ship oil without passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most sensitive maritime chokepoints, which has been effectively closed to most shipping since the Iran war escalated, rattling global energy markets.
The strike took place amid a broader regional confrontation following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, which triggered retaliatory drone and missile strikes across several Middle Eastern countries hosting U.S. military assets.
Iranian strikes have targeted locations in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, among others, as hostilities expanded beyond Iran’s borders.
The escalating conflict has also disrupted shipping routes and energy infrastructure in the Gulf, raising concerns about the security of oil facilities and trade flows across the region.
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