Helicopters Destroy Iraqi Artillery That Hit Refinery

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia —  Helicopter gunships flew into Kuwait today and demolished Iraqi artillery batteries that had hit an oil storage tank at a Saudi refinery near the border with the occupied emirate, oil industry sources said.

“Some of the allied forces flew in and destroyed the artillery, then withdrew,” one source said. “It was absolutely necessary to take the artillery out in case it inflicted any more damage,” he added. There were no further details.

The Iraqi barrage set ablaze the crude oil storage tank at the refinery in Khafji, just a few miles from the border with Kuwait, but the fire was quickly extinguished by refinery employees, the oil industry sources said.

The sources confirmed earlier reports that a 30,000-barrel-a-day refinery at the Khafji terminal had not been hit by the Iraqi artillery barrage.

The world’s biggest offshore oil field, Saudi Arabia’s Safaniyah field, had also been within reach of Iraqi artillery.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that the Iraqi artillery barrage that hit the oil tank was the only action by Iraq across its borders so far.

The industry sources said it was not clear whether the gunships were manned by U.S. Marines or Saudi troops or if it was a joint operation.

Japan’s Arabian Oil Co. Ltd., which runs the Khafji complex, said it would stop crude oil production and refining there for the time being at the request of the Saudi government.

No employees were injured in the attack and no damage has been reported to crude production and refining facilities at the Khafji plant, a company official said in Tokyo.