Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense intercepted three drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field yesterday, according to a post by the Saudi Press Agency on social media platform X.

The attack during the second week of conflict in the war between Iran, Israel, and the United States is the latest targeting critical energy infrastructure in GCC countries.

The facility was previously targeted by two drones, both of which were destroyed. Saudi Arabia said that the facility is crucial to the country’s oil production.

Earlier in the week, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a post on X on 10 March that a drone attack caused a fire to break out at a facility in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. No injuries were reported.

The Ruwais complex has a refining capacity of about 922,000 barrels of crude oil and condensate per day, making it one of the largest oil refineries in the Middle East, and amongst the largest single-site refineries in the world. Ruwais is located about 240km west of Abu Dhabi city in the Al Dhafra region.

On 9 March, the Bahrain News Agency noted that Bapco Energies declared a force majeure situation on the group’s operations, as operations were disrupted due to an attack on its refinery complex. The attack prompted the group to issue a formal force majeure notice, and said the declaration relates specifically to operational disruptions linked to the conflict and the recent attack on the refinery complex, which forms a key part of Bahrain’s energy infrastructure.