TheCable

A drone has attacked an oil refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, on Friday.

According to the Saudi energy ministry, the attack happened at 6:05am Saudi time and has been brought under control.

In a statement by the ministry’s spokesman, he called the attack a “cowardly act” and expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation.

“Saudi Arabia asserts that such acts of terrorism and sabotage, repeatedly committed against vital installations and civilian facilities — the last of which was the attempt to target the Ras Tanura refinery and Saudi Aramco’s residential area in Dhahran — do not target the Kingdom alone, but more broadly the security and stability of energy supply to the world, as well as the global economy,” the statement read.

The new attack is expected to drive the prices of crude oil higher after a five-day consecutive declines on Thursday. The last attack in March, saw oil prices hitting $70.

On March 7, a petroleum tank farm at Ras Tanura, one of the world’s largest oil shipping ports, was targeted by a drone coming from the sea.

Shrapnel from a ballistic missile also fell near Saudi Aramco’s residential area in Dhahran where thousands of the company’s employees and their families live. The attack has been claimed by Huthi, a rebel group from Yemen.