The elephant in the room concerning the strike on the Saudi Arabian oil installation is Saudi Arabia’s air defenses. From Moon of Alabama at moonofalabama.com:
he Washington Post notices Russia’s offer to sell its air defense systems to Saudi Arabia. It does not like that:
The attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities last weekend were a disaster for both Riyadh and Washington, with weapons allegedly made in Iran circumventing expensive U.S. missile defense systems.But in Moscow, news of the attack was greeted as yet another chance to mock the United States and its allies — all while extolling the virtues of Russia’s own missile defense technology.
“We still remember the fantastic U.S. missiles that failed to hit a target more than a year ago, while now the brilliant U.S. air defense systems could not repel an attack,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Friday. “These are all links in a chain.”
The Yemeni attack on Saudi oil installations caused serious damage (more photos). In Abqaiq at least five of nine stabilization columns were destroyed. These are needed to make crude oil transportable. The three phase separators that separate the fluids into gas, oil and water were likewise eliminated. Most of the gas storage tanks at Abqaiq were penetrated.
biggerSome 5,000 additional workers are now racing to repair the damage. It will still take weeks if not months to get everything up and running again.
