Drone attack sparks fire at UAE Fujairah energy facility; oil loading suspended

An energy facility at the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates caught fire on Monday after a drone attack, according to local authorities and international wire services. The incident halted some oil loading operations at Fujairah, a major export terminal on the UAE’s eastern coast. No casualties were reported.

Fujairah is one of the few export hubs for UAE crude and refined products that can bypass the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint through which much of the region’s oil passes.

The UAE’s Fujairah Media Office said one drone was shot down and that debris from the attack caused the fire. Reuters and AFP reported on the incident, citing local and regional authorities.

Bloomberg News, quoting sources, said that as a precaution the port’s loading of crude oil and refined products was suspended while authorities assess the damage and impact of the attack.

The attack comes in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s facilities at Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export site, on Feb. 28, according to the report.

The report notes that after former U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had attacked Kharg Island, Iran warned it would retaliate against oil and energy facilities in the Middle East linked to the United States if its own facilities were attacked. Iran’s military authorities, broadcast on state television, urged evacutions from port areas and called UAE ports legitimate targets in defense of sovereignty and energy infrastructure.

Kharg Island serves as a principal export terminal for Iran’s oil, while Fujairah provides an alternative route for shipments that bypass the Hormuz Strait. The unfolding exchanges underscore persistent tensions in the Persian Gulf and the risk they pose to global energy supply chains, with potential implications for U.S. markets and security policy.