By Avi Salzman
Western oil companies are now in the direct line of fire in the Iran War.
Separate attacks by Iran over the past 24 hours damaged facilities owned by Shell and part-owned by Exxon Mobil. Exxon stock was up 1.2% on Thursday, while Shell fell 0.6%. Oil prices were up around 3% at $109 per barrel after briefly rising to $120.
A drone hit Saudi Arabia's Samref refinery in the city of Yanbu on Thursday. The refinery is owned by both Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, and Exxon, which has a 50% stake. It can process 400,000 barrels of crude a day, making it one of the region's largest refineries. Iran has put the refinery on a list of potential war targets.
The extent of the damage wasn't clear. Exxon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Aramco declined to comment.
Yanbu is an increasingly important port city. Its location on the Red Sea made it appear "safer" than ports on the Persian Gulf during this war. Normally, Saudi Arabia exports most of its oil from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, and from there to the rest of the world.
But Iran has blocked the strait and attacked ships in the Gulf, so Saudi Arabia has been diverting its oil along the East West Pipeline to the Red Sea. That pipeline ends at Yanbu, whose ports can send millions of barrels of oil and fuels per day to Europe and Asia. It's become a key escape valve for the world's oil market.
"Any disruption to key infrastructure such as the port of Yanbu could remove 5 to 6 million barrels per day from the market and potentially push oil prices to $150 or higher," wrote Rystad Energy analyst Aditya Saraswat.
Shell likewise sustained damage to an important facility in the Middle East. The British oil major owns a plant in Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City called Pearl that turns natural gas into liquids, used for everything from fuel to chemical production. The Pearl plant is the largest of its kind in the world.
A barrage of Iranian missiles hit Ras Laffan late on Wednesday, also causing severe damage at liquefied natural gas plants owned by QatarEnergy. Shell said the attacks caused a fire at the Pearl plant that has since been put out. The plant is now "in a safe state," Shell said, adding that no one from Shell was reported injured.
"We are working in close coordination with the Qatari authorities and our partners at Qatar Energy to manage the situation and to assess the damage," the company said.
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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March 19, 2026 13:13 ET (17:13 GMT)
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