Bahrain's Bapco declares force majeure after Iran strikes: statement

Manama: Bahrain’s state-owned energy company Bapco declared force majeure after waves of Iranian strikes targeted the country’s energy installations, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Bapco “hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex”, said a statement posted by the company.

Iran launched fresh strikes on energy installations in the Gulf on Monday including a petroleum complex in Bahrain, as oil prices soared on fears over supply disruptions due to the Middle East war.

Bahrain’s sprawling Al Ma’ameer oil facility was hit, causing a fire and damage.

Energy producers in Qatar and Kuwait earlier made similar declarations.

Asian stock markets plunged on Monday as oil prices soared, with investors running for the hills as crude rocketed to its highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The market instability came as Iran continued to target the Gulf with missile and drone barrages, hours after Washington ordered embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia.

The State Department said in a travel advisory it had “ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks”.

Drones hit the US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, and drones have also caused damage at the US diplomatic missions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday, Bahrain said another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra had injured 32 people overnight.

All of the wounded were Bahraini citizens and there were four “serious cases”, including children, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

They included a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries, and a two-month-old baby, according to the ministry.

Bahrain said the attack on its Al Ma’ameer oil facility had caused a fire but the blaze had been brought under control.

Several explosions were also heard Monday in the Qatari capital Doha, AFP journalists said, as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait all reported new attacks.

Doha has been targeted by waves of drones and missiles since Iran launched a retaliation campaign across the Gulf in the wake of US and Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic.

Qatar’s defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had intercepted a missile attack.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said the kingdom intercepted and destroyed two waves of drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country.

In the UAE, authorities said in a statement on X that air defences responded to “a missile threat”.