Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it was relinquishing any responsibility for any shortage in global oil supplies in light of recent attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on Saudi oil facilities.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declares that it will not incur any responsibility for any shortage in oil supplies to global markets in light of the attack on its oil facilities from the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militias," the Saudi Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.
"The Kingdom stresses the importance of the international community realizing the gravity of Iran's continued behavior of equipping the terrorist Houthi militias with the technology of the ballistic missiles and advanced UAVs with which they target the Kingdom's production sites of oil, gas and refined products, wrote the Ministry.
The statement added that these attacks result in "serious consequences" affecting Saudi Arabia's ability to fulfill its commitment and "undermining, without a doubt, the security and sustainability of energy supplies to global markets."
The ministry called on the international community to undertake its responsibility to protect energy supplies and confront the Houthis, saying that the militia's attacks represent a "direct threat" to the security of oil supplies.
Oil prices have been skyrocketing around the world in light of rising inflation and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The statement comes after two Houthi missile and drone attacks targeted the Saudi Aramco petroleum facility in Jeddah on Saturday and Sunday. A Houthi attack also targeted Saudi desalination plants and a gas station.
Amid the Houthi attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the Biden administration has transferred a "significant number" of Patriot antimissile batteries to Saudi Arabia in the past month.
While the Saudis had been requesting the interceptors for months, US officials told the Wall Street Journal that it was only able to transfer them in the past month due to high demand by other US allies and the normal vetting process.