[News] Satellite imagery shows big fire at Aramco's Abqaiq after drone strike

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/satellite-imagery-shows-big-fire-at-aramco-s-abqaiq-after-dr>
Satellite imagery shows big fire at Aramco's Abqaiq after drone strike
Al Mayadeen English
July 27, 2026
------------------------------

Satellite imagery shows a major fire at Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq plant and
East-West Pumping Station after a Yemeni drone strike.

   - [image: Sentinel-2 satellite imagery shows a dense black smoke plume
   rising from Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq facility, the world's largest crude oil
   stabilization plant, following Yemeni drone strikes. (Social media)]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/7/27/1d1a0fef-fbf3-43b4-9fa5-2210b79af202.jpg?width=1000>
   Sentinel-2 satellite imagery shows a dense black smoke plume rising from
   Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq facility, the world's largest crude oil stabilization
   plant, following Yemeni drone strikes

Drones struck Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq crude-processing facility and the
adjacent East-West Pumping Station, as Yemen intensifies pressure on
Riyadh's energy infrastructure in response to Saudi Arabia's aggression and
siege.

NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) recorded
multiple active fire hotspots at the site, satellite evidence pointing to
significant damage at one of Saudi Arabia's most critical oil installations.

Abqaiq stabilizes the bulk of Saudi crude ahead of export and processes an
estimated 5 to 7 percent of global oil supply, making it a central node in
the kingdom's energy infrastructure.

The OSINT account Egypt's Intel Observer, citing Sentinel-2 satellite
imagery, reported burn scars across four of Abqaiq's six crude-processing
spheroids, with two appearing destroyed and firefighting foam visible on
one. However, the assessment remains preliminary and unverified.

Saudi Aramco has reportedly suspended all operations and triggered
emergency flaring across multiple production sites.

Abqaiq was previously targeted in the September 2019 drone and missile
attack, which briefly knocked out roughly 5 percent of global oil supply
and sent Brent crude prices surging 20 percent.

With Yanbu port infrastructure on the western end of the East-West Pipeline
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Economy/gulf-states-weigh-pipeline-expansion-plans--hoping-to-bypass>
being reportedly damaged alongside Abqaiq in the east, Saudi Arabia's
Hormuz-bypass export route has now been effectively severed.
YAF announce targeting Saudi crude routes

Earlier on Monday, the Yemeni Armed Forces
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemeni-armed-forces-shoot-down-saudi-operated-bayraktar-dron>
announced that its fighters had "struck several targets and critical points
along the supply and transport routes for crude oil from eastern Saudi
Arabia to Yanbu." The YAF added that the "operation was carried out using
several drones."

In a similar context, an exclusive source told *Al Mayadeen* on Sunday that
the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted three Saudi oil tankers
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/3-saudi-vessels-struck--16-turned-back-as-yemen-blockade-hol?__cf_chl_rt_tk=wl8lRhm1VkeSvb4L8idhWMcQBDJ913R5smQH175hIMA-1785163923-1.0.1.1-Vi30WO4OM249btzKaBmD6gNz7hjySDcsNM3F1IwRUxc>
in the 48 hours prior. The source detailed that the number of Saudi vessels
turned back and barred from passage between last Monday and Sunday has
reached 16.

Since Yemen imposed its naval blockade, the source noted, no Saudi oil
tanker has crossed the Bab al-Mandab Strait in either direction,
reaffirming that the ban on Saudi vessels remains in force and that the
Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to deny passage to any Saudi vessel.
Loading volumes at Yanbu down 40%

Yanbu loading volumes fell
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yaf-strike-saudi-oil-routes-as-yanbu-loadings-fall-40>
roughly 40 percent after July 19, dropping from about 5.16 million barrels
per day to around 3.09 million bpd, per Windward's analysis of Vortexa data.

The firm's satellite tracking also shows a shift in tanker behavior at
Yanbu's King Fahd Industrial Port, with vessels being forced to move almost
entirely to AIS-dark operations at berth, switching off transponders as
they approach in an effort to avoid being flagged by Ansar Allah.

Ansar Allah forced Saudi Arabia to lean on an alternate export corridor
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-s-maritime-blockade-sends-saudi-oil-on-costly--lengthy>,
the SUMED pipeline running from Ain Sokhna to Sidi Kerir on Egypt's
Mediterranean coast, followed by a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in
South Africa to reach Asian buyers. Accordingly, Egypt-bound flows rose
from roughly 1.15 million to 1.60 million bpd over the same period.

Windward reports that a Korean energy company paid $18.5 million to load a
single shipment of 280,000 metric tons of crude. That works out to about $9
extra per barrel, roughly 8 to 9 percent on top of normal shipping costs,
and doesn't even count the extra time it takes to sail around Africa
instead of going directly through Bab al-Mandeb and the Suez Canal.
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