Saudi Arabia intercepted three drones headed towards the Shaybah oil field on Thursday, as Iran targeted the facility again in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets.

The Gulf kingdom’s defence ministry said an “unmanned aerial vehicle heading towards the Shaybah field… was intercepted and destroyed”.

Earlier the ministry said two drones heading towards the same field were similarly destroyed, announcing the interception in a separate post on X.

Saudi Arabia confirmed on Wednesday that it had prevented several drone attacks against the facility, which is crucial to the country’s oil production.

Oil prices have surged since the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran at the end of last month, killing its supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into war.

Retaliatory Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks have brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude passes, almost to a halt.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that its members had agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves — their largest release ever — in a bid to stabilise prices.

But oil surged more than nine per cent on Thursday to break back above $100 a barrel after fresh Iranian strikes on supplies and infrastructure overshadowed the record release.

The Shaybah oil field sits near the border with the United Arab Emirates and is operated by Saudi giant Aramco, one of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalisation.