Yemen's armed forces say they struck Saudi crude transfer lines with drones; Riyadh confirms an attack on Eastern Province oil facilities

Yahya Saree, spokesman for Yemen's armed forces, said in the early hours of Monday, 27 July 2026 (5 Mordad 1405), that a number of targets and sensitive points involved in supplying and transferring crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to the western port of Yanbu had been hit with several drones. Speaking via the al-Masirah channel, he said the operation was carried out in response to violations of Yemeni airspace.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence said oil facilities in the kingdom's Eastern Province had come under drone attack and that a number of the drones were intercepted, without commenting on the fate of the rest. The Saudi Foreign Ministry also issued a statement confirming that oil facilities in the Eastern Province had been targeted, and said the drones had been launched from Iraqi territory. Saudi Arabia has several major oil facilities in the Eastern Province, including at Dammam. The two sides differ on attribution, and Sahmino neither confirms nor rejects either account.

The event came on a day when global oil prices fell. According to Sahmino's data, Brent crude stood at 90.79 dollars a barrel as of 17:27 on Monday, 27 July, down 6.6 percent. Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province is the heart of the kingdom's oil production and exports, and the east to west pipeline is the route that carries crude to the Red Sea.