Satellite imagery shows smoke and fire at critical Saudi oil processing facility hours after ceasefire announced

 1 hr 25 min ago

Satellite imagery shows smoke and fire at critical Saudi oil processing facility hours after ceasefire announced

New satellite imagery shows large plumes of thick black smoke rising at Saudi Aramco’s vital Abqaiq processing facility following earlier reports of an Iranian drone attack on Wednesday. 

European Space Agency/Copernicus

 New satellite imagery provided by the European Space Agency shows large plumes of thick black smoke rising from Saudi Aramco’s vital Abqaiq processing facility following earlier reports of an Iranian attack on Wednesday.

The image was taken on April 8 at around 10:00 a.m. local time (03:00 a.m. ET) just hours after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility is the world’s largest crude stabilization plant and provides around 5% of global oil supplies, according to the company. The facility processes sour crude oil and processes it into sweet crude oil before it gets transported to both Saudi Arabia’s east and west coast via the East-West Pipeline.

The pipeline is one of two out of the region that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, where the war in Iran has caused significant trade disruption. Transporting crude across the country connecting Abqaiq, an oil field near the eastern gulf coast, with the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the pipeline has become a crucial part of the nation’s oil export trade since the effective shuttering of Hormuz.

Aramco declined to comment when contacted by CNN.