Abqaiq

Abqaiq, town, eastern Saudi Arabia, about 25 miles (40 km) west of the Persian Gulf. It is situated in the southern end of the Abqaiq oil field, one of the largest and most productive in the kingdom. Abqaiq grew rapidly following the discovery of the oil field in 1940. By 1950 the town was the southern terminus of the Tapline (Trans-Arabian Pipeline), a 1,068-mile- (1,718-km-) long pipeline to Ṣaydā (Sidon), Lebanon; the following year Abqaiq was linked to Riyadh and al-Dammām by rail. The town’s facilities include pumping stations, gas-oil separator plants, and pipelines, all operated by Aramco, as well as the company’s largest oil-processing facility. That facility was the target of several attempted attacks, including a failed attempt in 2006 by al-Qaeda and a thwarted attempt in 2015 by an assailant of unknown affiliation. In September 2019 the facility was significantly damaged by a series of drone strikes; Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility, but Saudi and American officials said the strikes did not come from Yemen.