DEVELOPING — Yemen's Houthis claim they attacked Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery, and Bloomberg reports a fire near the Ras Tanura hub was contained. What has not been confirmed is whether the claim caused the fire, how much damage was done, or whether oil production was affected.

DEVELOPING — Yemen's Houthis claim they attacked Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery, and Bloomberg reports a fire near the Ras Tanura hub was contained. What has not been confirmed is whether the claim caused the fire, how much damage was done, or whether oil production was affected.

Reuters reports Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said a ballistic missile hit the Ras Tanura refinery and caused a fire at the site — he called them "massive fires" — and a resident of nearby Al Khobar told AFP he heard explosions around dawn after a mobile alert. Bloomberg separately reports Aramco contained a fire near the oil hub after the reported attack.

Saudi authorities have not confirmed the attack and Aramco has said nothing. The Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched toward the Eastern Province and four drones toward the south, without mentioning Ras Tanura — so damage, casualties and any effect on production remain unconfirmed.

That distinction matters: an attack has been claimed, and a fire has been reported and contained — but responsibility, damage and any loss of output remain unconfirmed.

Oil jumped on the headlines, then eased back: the latest market wrap, at 11:10 GMT, put Brent crude at about $115.03 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at about $101.19, both down on the day.

For drivers here, that is the part to watch. Ras Tanura sits on the other side of the world, but crude is priced globally. When a major oil hub is threatened, the market moves first — and sustained moves in crude can work their way to the gas pump.

Photo: Ciacho5, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) — file photo, 2012.

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