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              Congressional                                                    ____
           *.Research Service






Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities: Effects and

Responses



September 27, 2019


September 14, 2019, saw an attack on Saudi Aramco's, Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Abqaiq oil
processing facility and Khurais oil field and processing plant. The attack, which used both missiles and
drones, temporarily disrupted 5.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil production, over half of Saudi
Arabia's oil production and about 5% of global supply. For context, U.S. crude oil production is
approximately 12 mb/d.


Abqaiq Facility

Abqaiq is a key processing facility for Saudi Arabia crude. Two important functions provided by Abqaiq
include (1) crude oil stabilization, a process that removes hydrogen sulfide and reduces the volatility of
crude oil to specifications required for shipping, and (2) gas oil separation, where oil is separated from
other hydrocarbons such as methane, butane, and propane. The Abqaiq facility was reportedly operating
at about 4.9 mb/d prior to the attack and has a maximum capacity of 7 mb/d. According to Bloomberg,
Abqaiq suffered five strikes on crude-stabilization towers and another 11 strikes on infrastructure that
separates gaseous hydrocarbons from crude oil.



Khurais Field and Facility

The Khurais field has a production capacity of 1.5 mb/d under normal circumstances. All oil from the
Khurais field is processed on site. Khurais processing infrastructure suffered damage to four crude-
stabilization towers, with differing degrees of damage.


Restoration Efforts

Saudi Aramco is working to replace the disrupted supply and restore production capacity. Reportedly,
Aramco is utilizing oil from storage to meet current export commitments as well as spare capacity not

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