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Saudi Aramco shuts Jazan refinery after Houthi strike

The 400,000-barrel-per-day shutdown follows damage to the refinery’s gasification and tank farm, with repairs tentatively expected to be completed by August 15.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Energy

Saudi Aramco has shut its Jazan refinery, a 400,000-barrel-per-day facility, after a Houthi attack damaged the site on July 27, according to an IIR note seen by Reuters. IIR said the strike hit the refinery’s Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle complex and tank farm, and repairs are tentatively expected to be completed by August 15.

Reuters reported that video verified by the outlet showed a large plume of smoke rising from the refinery after the Saturday attack. A Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group also struck Aramco facilities in Yanbu, though Saudi Aramco had not commented on the damage or restart schedule.

While the shutdown could last less than three weeks, the article notes that Jazan’s downtime is not routine for the fuel market because gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel supplies were already tight and inventories were thin. Refining margins had also surged to record highs, and finished fuel is less flexible than crude because it must be processed through an operating refinery before it can move.

The piece adds that crude can sometimes be rerouted, stored, or sent through other ports, but finished products require the specific refineries that are operating. It also describes Yanbu as a key alternative route that helped keep oil moving via the Red Sea while other routes were disrupted, and suggests the conflict may now be moving to that workaround to the west, though no further claims beyond the reporting were provided.

Russia offered related context, saying several refineries restarted and its fuel crisis was easing, according to the article.

Latest closeWTI crude $81.92 ▼8.3%|Gasoline (RBOB) $3.158 ▼7.0%

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