Bahrain’s state oil company declared force majeure on Monday for its shipments after an Iranian attack set its refinery ablaze.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency carried the announcement of the force majeure, a legal maneuver that releases a company of its contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.
It said the company’s operations “have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex.”
It insisted that local demand could still be met.
A strike targeting Bahrain’s sprawling Al-Ma’ameer oil facility caused a fire at the complex along with material damage, state media said on Monday, in the latest attack against Gulf energy installations.
“Outbreak of a fire due to the Iranian aggression targeting a facility in Al Ma’ameer, with material damage reported but no casualties recorded, and the competent authorities have begun firefighting procedures,” Bahrain News Agency said in a post on X. The blaze had been brought under control.
Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has also all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane between the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman through which a fifth of the world’s oil is carried.
Bahrain also reported another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra had injured 32 people overnight.
All of the wounded were Bahraini citizens and there were four “serious cases”, including children, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.
They included a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries, and a two-month-old baby, according to the ministry.
