Drone Attacks Slice Saudi Arabia’s Oil Production Plant Outputs by Half
Along the weekend, Saudi Arabia has been seen as a production cut on its oil production volume country-wide. According to the Financial Times, the effect was as a result of drone-manned attacks that were targeted against two major Saudi Arabia oil producers.
Reports claim that the attacks involved a coordinated attack of ten unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that set fire to Saudi Arabia’s major oil facility and its nearby oilfields on Saturday morning (Sept 14).
Estimates suggested a nearly 50% of standard oil production was cut, equivalent to around 5.7 million barrels a day. The two attacks knocked out around 5% of the global oil supply.
As a result, the oil prices surged up, with the BBC stating Brent crude – an international benchmark used by traders listing the price of one barrel for $71.95 at one point. At the end of Monday trading day, Oil prices ended nearly 15% higher – the biggest pump in nearly 30 years, the BBC stated. Although the prices had since eased when the US President authorized a release of oil from their oil reserves.
Iran-aligned Houthi rebels based in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, US government officials suggest otherwise. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran directly for the attacks on his Twitter account.
“Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy. Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply. There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen,” he said in a tweet on Saturday.
According to the BBC, some US officials have talked to the New York Times, ABC and Reuters, with one official claiming there were a total of 19 points of impact on the target. From the points of impact one us official says the source of the attacks arrived from south-west of the Saudi oil facilities suggesting the possible launch sites in the northern Gulf, Iran or Iraq.
Although Iran denied being linked to the drone attacks. The US President Donald Trump took it to Twitter in response to the matter questioning Iran’s denial of the blames.
Remember when Iran shot down a drone, saying knowingly that it was in their “airspace” when, in fact, it was nowhere close. They stuck strongly to that story knowing that it was a very big lie. Now they say that they had nothing to do with the attack on Saudi Arabia. We’ll see?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2019
Bottom line is, as much as drones can prove beneficial to humans, their shortcomings are also increasingly dangerous. The latest attack just indicates how low-tech can be used as a lethal weapon even against all humanity.
Are drones legal in Kenya?
Yes, drones are legal in Kenya but with restrictive use and has strict legal policies that must be set in order to be licensed for use. Although drones have existed in Kenya even before that in March 2018 is when Kenya finally set its regulation policies to oversee the safe use of drones in the country.
Although in May, KCAA held a public participation forum for public comments, views, and feedback on the proposed revised drone regulation policies.
You can view the proposed revised rules on drone regulation in Kenya here.
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