Satellite Imagery Reveals Damage at Yanbu Oil Facilities

By Staff, Agencies

Satellite images captured on Monday show extensive damage to Saudi Aramco's Yanbu oil facilities along the Red Sea coast following Yemeni strikes over the weekend.

Burn scars are visible around an Aramco spherical storage tank at the Yanbu Bulk Plant [23.954322, 38.304607], pointing to damage at the site. Nearby, the Alhamrani-Fuchs Blending & Grease Plant in Yanbu Industrial City appears to have sustained far heavier damage, with much of the facility seemingly destroyed by fire.

The Yemeni Armed Forces' [YAF] spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Saturday that Sana'a carried out two attacks against Saudi assets in response to Riyadh's “blatant and criminal" aggression.

The first operation targeted the Jizan facility using dozens of ballistic missiles and drones, and the second strike was against Aramco-affiliated facilities in Yanbu with ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones.

The YAF targeted the facilities in Yanbu again on Monday, stating that its fighters "struck several targets and critical points along the supply and transport routes for crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu".

Thermal data shows two fires of around 120MW each erupted at opposite ends of the Alhamrani-Fuchs Blending & Grease Plant in Yanbu Industrial City on Saturday, with no other thermal anomalies recorded at the site throughout July.

The findings contrast with Saudi claims, despite Greek security sources confirming that a Greek-operated US-made Patriot system intercepted two Yemeni ballistic missiles targeting the Yanbu refineries that day.

The strikes have significantly reduced Saudi Arabia's export capacity, with Yanbu's loading volumes dropping nearly 40% since July 19—from about 5.16 million to 3.09 million barrels per day, according to Windward's analysis of Vortexa data.

Further south, Aramco also shut its 400,000-bpd Jizan refinery after the strikes damaged key facilities and sparked a fire that has continued burning since the attack.

Satellite images further showed fire damage at Aramco's Abqaiq facility following a drone strike, with NASA detecting multiple hotspots.

OSINT reports also indicated major damage to several crude-processing units. Combined with strikes on Yanbu and Jizan, the attacks appear to have disrupted Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline export route.