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When attack drones struck Saudi Aramco\u2019s biggest oil pipeline last month, satellite images showed one of its pumping stations burnt \u200bto ashes. By the next day, scores of bulldozers were already building a new pipeline.<\/strong><\/p>\n Within days, pumping resumed.<\/p>\n The speed of the \u200crecovery illustrates how the world\u2019s biggest oil producer has transformed its ability to operate under attack after years of assaults on energy infrastructure across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, our teams can handle multiple incidents simultaneously, and we continue to build this capability,\u201d Saudi state oil firm Aramco\u2019s chief executive Amin Nasser told Reuters in an interview last week.<\/p>\n Nasser \u200bsaid Aramco has built specialised rapid-response teams, expanded emergency stockpiles for repairs and deployed drones to assess damage even while incidents \u200bare still unfolding.<\/p>\n Lessons on how to operate under fire came after drones and missiles hit Aramco\u2019s major oil processing \u2060facility in Abqaiq in 2019, temporarily knocking out half of Aramco\u2019s production.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Abqaiq in 2019, we came up with the idea of rapid response teams, \u200bor what we call zero-hour responders,\u201d Nasser said.<\/p>\n The company, long-viewed as one of the most technically advanced oil producers, then began to prepare for \u200bthe possibility of multiple attacks on its facilities at the same time, Nasser said.<\/p>\n Those capabilities have been repeatedly tested since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February this year and Iran and its proxies retaliated with strikes that hit Middle Eastern infrastructure.<\/p>\n The firm\u2019s crisis-management capabilities were tested again on Tuesday when a Houthi attack struck the \u200bcompany\u2019s headquarters complex, causing extensive damage.<\/p>\n DRONES AND WAREHOUSES SPEED RECOVERY<\/strong><\/p>\n Saudi daily oil output dropped below 7 million barrels for most of the first six months \u200bof the war, down from over 10 million barrels before the war, according to data from the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n Like other Gulf producers, Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil exports \u200chave been \u2060constrained by attacks on tankers and a shortage of ships restricting crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Yet Aramco has managed to repair damaged facilities and restore operations quickly thanks to specialised response teams, years of contingency planning, drone technology and abundant spare parts.<\/p>\n Technology has allowed Aramco to compress the time between an attack and the start of repairs, Nasser said.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s response to incidents was now more than six times faster than the \u200bindustry average, he added, meaning it \u200boften takes just days to \u2060restart a facility even after significant damage.<\/p>\n Normally, oil firms first contain an incident and then assess the damage, but Aramco begins assessment with drones while an incident is still unfolding, Nasser said.<\/p>\n \u201cInspection drones provide an exceptional level of \u200bvisibility and detail,\u201d Nasser said. \u201cBy the time the situation is under control, we are ready to get \u200bto work.\u201d<\/p>\n Response teams can \u2060quickly send repair materials to a site before work begins, Nasser said.<\/p>\n Some 90% of materials needed for repairs are produced locally or held in a local warehouse as Aramco has spent years building up supply chains and inventories.<\/p>\n The ability to maintain production despite repeated attacks has become an important selling point \u2060with Aramco\u2019s customers, \u200bNasser said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey see that Aramco is able to deliver under different scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n While Saudi oil \u200bproduction recovered to about 8 million barrels a day in September, export routes remain vulnerable to disruptions beyond Aramco\u2019s control.<\/p>\n The company is studying possible alternative routes to the Strait of \u200bHormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and Suez, Nasser said, without elaborating.<\/p>\n \u201cDetails will be disclosed if and when a final decision is made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n