What happened in Abqiq and Khurais of Saudi Oil Fields?

Sep /14th, Drone attacks were launched on stated-owned Saudi Aramco oil facilities Abqaiq and Khurais on Sept. 14. Abqaiq is considered the world’s largest oil processing plant. The co-ordinated strikes sparked massive fires at the sites and sent thick plumes of smoke into the air.
While no one was injured, the attacks took out nearly half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production, effectively putting five percent of the global daily output on hold.
Officials initially believed the kingdom’s oil operations could be restored within a few days, but hope for that has dwindled as the damage assessment continued. While 50 percent of operations resumed Tuesday, the remaining portion likely won’t be repaired until the end of September.
Houthi rebels say they launched the strikes in retaliation to Saudi Arabia’s military effort against them in Yemen. The group has been locked in a war against a Saudi-led coalition that has fought to reinstate the Yemeni government since 2015. his isn’t the first time Houthi rebels have used drones in combat since the start of the Saudi-led war. More recently, the Houthis launched drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s crucial East-West Pipeline in May. In August, Houthi drones struck Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oilfield.
Since the weekend assaults, the group has threatened to carry out more attacks and claimed its weapons could reach anywhere in Saudi Arabia.
Why does it matter?
The strikes, which temporarily halved Saudi Arabia’s oil production, are considered the largest single supply disruption in half a century.
The attack has already had a significant impact on the global oil industry — prices surged as much as 20 percent at one point on Monday.
With fears that full production could be offline for two to three weeks, analysts believe the impacts could widen and intensify.
“Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world who has spare capacity for crude,” Roger McKnight, a senior petroleum analyst at En-Pro International, told Global News.
“When you knock out five percent of the country’s capability, you really knocked out all the spare capacity of crude for the global community.” Source: https://globalnews.ca