US Looks to Boost Intel Sharing With Saudi Arabia After Attacks on Aramco's Oil Facilities

Drones attacked two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, causing major fires and partially disrupting oil production. Washington blamed the attacks on Tehran but the latter rejected the accusations as 'unacceptable'.

The US is looking to increase intelligence sharing with Saudi Arabia after attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday that halved the country's oil production and caused turmoil on global markets, Reuters reported, citing US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source did not specify what the increased intelligence sharing might involve, the agency added. The US has previously selectively shared intelligence data with Saudi Arabia concerning possible threats from Yemen's Houthi militants, who claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks.

In this image made from a video broadcast on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya satellite news channel on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, a man walks through a parking lot as the smoke from a fire at the Abqaiq oil processing facility can be seen behind him in Buqyaq, Saudi Arabia. Drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and another major oilfield Saturday, sparking huge fires at a vulnerable chokepoint for global energy supplies

© AP Photo / Anonymous

On 14 September, two Saudi Aramco plants, in Abqaiq and Khurais, were attacked by drones, causing fires and resulting in a loss of 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production per day, which is about half of Saudi Arabia’s total daily production. The US accused Iran of carrying out the attacks, while Tehran strongly denied the allegations.