Saudi Arabia intercepted drones headed to Shaybah oil field

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia intercepted two drones headed towards the Shaybah oil field on Thursday, as Iran targets the facility again in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets.

“Two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field were intercepted and destroyed,” a spokesperson for the country’s defence ministry posted on X.

It came after Saudi Arabia confirmed on Wednesday that it had prevented several drone attacks against the facility, which is crucial to the country’s oil production.

Oil prices have surged since the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran at the end of last month, killing its supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into conflict.

Retaliatory Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks have brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz almost to a halt, through which a fifth of global crude passes.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that its members had agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves — their largest release ever — in a bid to stabilise prices.

But oil surged more than nine percent on Thursday to break back above $100 a barrel after fresh Iranian strikes on supplies and infrastructure overshadowed the record release.

The Shaybah oil field sits near the border with the United Arab Emirates and is operated by Saudi giant Aramco, one of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalisation.