Saudi Oil, Gas Production Not to Be Affected By Refinery Attack:Minister
Posted on: Saturday, 25 February 2006, 09:00 CST
Saudi oil, gas production not to be affected by refinery attack: minister
KUWAIT CITY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said on Friday that an attack on a refinery in the Eastern Province would not affect the country 's oil and gas production.
In a statement to local media, al-Naimi said Saudi security forces and Saudi Aramco personnel foiled the terrorist attack targeting Baqiq's oil facilities at 03:10 p.m. (1210 GMT).
Friday's attack caused a small fire, which was controlled before any real harm was done, said the minister.
He clarified that the targeted oil gathering center continued producing oil and gas at normal rates, denying an earlier report by the al-Arabiya channel saying that the oil flow was briefly stopped.
According to a source from the Saudi Interior Ministry, security forces are still surrounding the area and the attackers were not identified yet.
The pan-Arab TV channel said Saudi security forces foiled two attempted car bomb attacks against the Baqiq oil refinery in the eastern province on Friday.
Two explosive-laden vehicles exploded after security forces fired upon them as the suicide drivers were attempting to ram the cars into the refinery's gates, according to a Saudi security official.
The attackers were killed in the explosions and two Saudi security members wounded, said the official.
Witnesses said earlier that gunshots and explosions were heard in the refinery area, some 70 km southwest of Dammam, a port city in northeastern Saudi Arabia on the Gulf coast, according to the Dubai- based channel.
Baqiq is a huge oil processing center which manages two-thirds of the kingdom's oil output.
Saudi Arabia sits on top of the world's oil production, with a daily output of about 9.5 million barrels.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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