Blast sends oil price soaring

2006-02-24 16:41

Cairo - An explosion occurred on Friday at a major oil refinery in Buqayq, eastern Saudi Arabia, a Saudi oil official said.

The pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya TV reported the authorities foiled an attempt to bomb the refinery with two vehicles packed with explosives. The channel did not give a source for the report, which appeared on its scrollbar.

Earlier Al-Arabiya quoted its reporter in the kingdom as saying shots as well as an explosion were heard, and they may have been part of an attempt to attack the refinery.

The oil official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he did not know the cause of the explosion in Buqayq, which lies 70km southwest of Dammam.

Saudi Interior Ministry spokesperson Lieutenant Genera; Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press in Cairo: "I have no information. I am following this up."

Crude oil futures soared nearly $2 a barrel after the explosion was reported.

The Baqiq refinery is a major oil complexs on the eastern side of Saudi Arabia.

The al-Qaeda terror group has long called for attacks on Saudi oil installations, accusing the country's government of selling oil to the West at cheap prices. The group is run by the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden who seeks to topple the Saudi monarchy and replace it with an Islamic state.

The Saudi authorities have said their oil facilities are well protected.

- AP