Saudi Oil Industry Command Shut Down

Following a Yemeni missile attack on Aramco in Dhahran that damaged the top three floors of one of its towers, all towers of this Saudi oil command center were evacuated and its operations halted.

According to Ambassador Arjan, on Tuesday evening, 21 Mehr 1405, after a ballistic missile hit the headquarters of Aramco in Dhahran, a part of Dammam metropolitan area in eastern Arabia, the upper three floors of one of the office towers of this complex were damaged and a fire broke out in the building.

Ambassador Arjan reported this Wednesday, quoting a source in Aramco and two other informed persons, that this building was set on fire after being hit by a missile.

Six other sources also told Reuters that they heard loud explosions near the Aramco complex before this news was published.

But the importance of this building is not limited to an office tower. Dhahran complex is the main operation center of Aramco company; The beating heart that oversees a vast network of onshore and offshore oil platforms, nationwide pipelines, refineries and oil export terminals.

In the same complex is the Oil Supply Planning and Scheduling Center (OSPAS), which Reuters described as Aramco's "operational command center"; Where the flow of hydrocarbons from oil and gas fields, through pipelines, terminals and tankers to reach customers, is planned, coordinated and monitored around the clock.

In the wake of this attack, Reuters reported on Wednesday, quoting four sources, that Aramco employees in Dhahran had been ordered to evacuate the headquarters since last night following Yemen's warning.

An informed source also announced that employees were required to work from home on Wednesday. But this decision has a limited meaning about a building where most of its activities are face-to-face and based on physical presence in the control center and operation rooms; Work in this center requires the constant presence of engineers and operators in front of a 67-meter wall and 150 screens, and remote work is practically meaningless for its operational department.

Therefore, it seems that the remote work order is mainly for the administrative and support staff, and the temporary evacuation and closure itself indicates the level of disruption in the activities of this center. Aramco had not released any official comment or confirmation on the matter until the time of publication of the report.

The Saudi Ministry of Energy confirmed on Wednesday morning that one of Aramco's office buildings in Dhahran was targeted and a limited fire occurred. Ambassador Arjan of Saudi Arabia (WAS) also announced that the fire was contained and there were no casualties in this attack.

These developments took place following the military warning of the spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, which was announced hours before.

He asked all citizens and employees of the Saudi oil industry to stay away from facilities that may be targeted.

Brigadier General Saree has included Aramco's headquarters in Al-Dammam in eastern Arabia, King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, and the Riyadh refinery affiliated to Aramco in the list of future targets.

This warning was issued in response to the Saudi coalition's airstrikes on Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, after the Yemeni oil company facilities were targeted and martyrs were left behind.

This center, which Amin Al-Nasser, the CEO of Aramco, called it "unique in the world" in a recent interview with CNBC, with more than 100,000 sensors, monitors all the company's operations from wells to refineries and oil tankers and supervises more than 100 critical facilities.

According to Reuters, its mural consists of 150 screens and reaches 67 meters in length; A system that, according to its engineers, has no margin for error.

Aramco has a daily production capacity of about 12 million barrels, and Dhahran has been its headquarters for nearly 80 years; A city that houses the headquarters of Aramco, oil and military facilities, and some of the largest oil fields in Saudi Arabia. For this reason, a disruption in this center can affect the entire oil supply chain.