Photos Show How an Air Attack Crippled Saudi Arabia’s Oil Output

Source: Planet Labs Inc.

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The U.S. administration released images on Sunday that it said highlights the precision and sophistication of the attack on Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil-processing plant at Abqaiq.

One photo appears to show a row of four spherical tanks each with similar puncture marks, indicating a highly accurate strike. Those vessels are important because they are part of a process to remove hydrogen sulfide, a highly corrosive chemical that needs to be taken out of crude before it can be refined. Without that, most refineries would struggle to process Saudi crude.