Sitting outside the Strait of Hormuz, the 255,000 b/d Duqm refinery in Oman has escaped largely unscathed from the Iranian onslaught on Gulf energy infrastructure. On 2 March, a suspected Iranian drone hit a fuel tank at the nearby port of Duqm resulting in minor damage, according to Oman’s state news agency, but apart from that it has so far been spared.
Most of the Gulf region’s refining capacity is located behind the Strait of Hormuz, and the majority has been shut down since the start of the US-Israeli aerial assault on Iran on 28 February. Iran has responded by launching missiles and rockets at the Gulf Arab states, and striking energy infrastructure assets on a number of occasions. Oman and Saudi Arabia are the only two Gulf states that can supply products from refineries that do not rely on the strait to reach global markets (MEES, 13 March). (CONTINUED - 859 WORDS)
