Overview
- A helicopter operated by Saudi Aramco crashed in Ras Tanura on Sunday morning, June 28, at about 6:00 a.m., killing all 14 people on board who were confirmed as Saudi nationals.
- The Ministry of Energy and the Saudi Press Agency said relevant authorities have launched an investigation but have not yet determined the cause of the accident.
- Aramco had resumed crude loadings at the Ras Tanura terminal on Friday, June 26, after nearly four months of suspended operations, which has sharpened attention to any incident at the site.
- There are no immediate reports that the crash disrupted wider Ras Tanura refinery or export terminal operations, and officials have reported no indication the crash was caused by hostile activity.
- The crash will prompt scrutiny of Aramco’s large corporate aviation fleet and safety procedures at a strategically important facility that houses the kingdom’s biggest refinery and a major crude export terminal with roughly 550,000 barrels per day processing capacity.