Washington: The scope and precision of drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities show they were launched from a west-northwest direction rather than from Yemen to the south, where Houthi rebels claimed responsibility, senior US administration officials said on Sunday.

A satellite image from Planet Labs shows thick black smoke rising from Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqyaq, Saudi Arabia. Credit:AP

US officials pointed to satellite imagery showing 19 points of impact on the oil facilities. The attacks on Saturday risk disruptions to the world's oil supplies, and oil prices were expected to jump on Monday.

The officials said they had additional evidence they would reveal in the days to come that would show that Houthi claims of responsibility for the attacks were not credible.

"There's no doubt that Iran is responsible for this. No matter how you slice it, there's no escaping it. There's no other candidate. Evidence points in no other direction than that Iran was responsible for this," an official told a small group of reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.