Seems like the terrorists are finally realizing who their real enemies are.
Oil Site Guards Blast Car Bombers By HASAN JAMALI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 5 minutes ago
ABQAIQ, Saudi Arabia - Suicide bombers in explosives-laden cars attacked the world's largest oil processing facility Friday, but were prevented from breaking through the gates when guards opened fire on them, causing the vehicles to explode, officials said.
The Saudi oil minister said the blast "did not affect operations" at the Abqaiq facility, denying an earlier report on Al-Arabiya television that the flow of oil was halted briefly after a pipeline was damaged.
The facility "continued to operate normally. Export operations continued in full," the minister, Ali Naimi, said in a statement.
The price of oil jumped by more than $1.20 on world markets as they heard of the attack. The April delivery price of Nymex sweet light crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose $1.26 to $61.80. The European benchmark, Brent crude, leaped $1.21 to $61.75 for April delivery.
It was the first attack on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia — and it targeted one of the kingdom's most important. The huge Abqaiq processing facility near the Gulf coast handles around two-thirds of the country's oil output, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Intelligence Agency.
Saudi Arabia has been waging a fierce three-year crackdown on al-Qaida militants, who launched a campaign in 2003 aimed at overthrowing the royal family with a string of attacks — mostly targeting foreigners. In May 2004, militants attacked oil company offices in two cities. There was no immediate word on who was behind the attack.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060224/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_explosion
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