News

Sri Lanka condemns drone attacks in Saudi Arabia

24 Sep, 2019

Sri Lanka today condemned the drone attacks targeting the Abqaiq oil processing facility and Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia.

As a country that has suffered from terrorism for thirty years, Sri Lanka remains committed to addressing this scourge in all its forms and manifestations.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said that stability in the Middle East is pivotal for the global economy and Sri Lanka hopes that the parties concerned would soon resolve their issues through peaceful negotiations and dialogue.

Attacks on Saudi Arabia?s Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities on September 14 forced the kingdom to shut down half its oil production capacity, or 5.7 million barrels per day of crude ? 5% of the world?s global daily oil production.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco had brought roughly half of that lost capacity back on line within two days.

Abqaiq, located in the kingdom?s oil-rich eastern province, is the world?s largest oil processing facility and crude oil stabilization plant with a processing capacity of more than 7 million bpd. Khurais, which lies about 110 miles southwest of Abqaiq, has capacity to pump around 1.5 million bpd. Ten fires at the Abqaiq facility were put out within seven hours.

Iran has been blamed for the attacks but Iran has denied any involvement. (Colombo Gazette)

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