Saudi-Owned Refinery Was Buyer of Oil on Cyberattacked Tanker

Saudi Aramco’s Texas oil refinery owns some of the crude carried by a tanker that was cyberattacked en route to the US.

Roughly half the 2 million barrels of oil on board the VL Prosperity was delivered to Motiva Enterprises LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Saudi oil giant that operates one of the largest US refineries, according to customs data compiled by Bloomberg. Unidentified hackers breached the vessel’s propulsion system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Coast Guard determined, before it arrived in Texas in August.

Motiva and Saudi Aramco didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

The VL Prosperity loaded up with oil in Egypt and was on its way to the US when it lost communication for 30 hours after hackers infiltrated its systems, according to a report by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News.

The attack heightened concern about maritime safety and the possibility that Iran-aligned hackers were seeking to widen the theater of conflict. Seven months after launching the war on the Islamic Republic, the Trump administration has been keen to tame soaring prices for crude and especially diesel as the US midterm elections approach.

Motiva received almost 1 million barrels of Arab Light oil at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery last week, according to the customs data. The destination for the remaining million barrels was unclear.