Saudi Aramco’s headquarters hit in missile attack
Bloomberg and FT sources have described a suspected Houthi attack on Aramco’s HQ in Dhahran
The incident is part of a wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia that has targeted airports and other oil infrastructure / Photo: Saudi Aramco
Yemen’s Houthis launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the world’s most valuable oil company. A fire broke out in part of the complex, Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported, citing sources. The extent of the damage remains unclear, as does the precise cause of the fire: it may have been caused by a direct hit or falling debris from intercepted missiles.
Details
Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran came under attack on Tuesday. The fire has been extinguished, according to Bloomberg. Aramco did not respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg or the FT. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry also did not respond to Bloomberg.
The attack coincided with the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh, the FT noted. The CEOs of Siemens Energy, Baker Hughes, and SLB were scheduled to speak there. The heads of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies pulled out of the industry event because of the deteriorating security situation in the kingdom. Brent crude fell around 0.5% on Monday to $106.16 per barrel. U.S. benchmark WTI crude was up 0.4% at $94.10 per barrel.
Context
The attack on Aramco’s headquarters was part of a wave of strikes on Saudi Arabia in recent days that also hit the country’s airports. At least 18 people were killed and hundreds more injured. The Houthi attacks followed a warning from the Riyadh-led coalition urging people near an oil facility in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, to leave the area “for their safety,” Bloomberg reported.
The kingdom’s oil infrastructure has been attacked before. A refinery in Jazan, in western Saudi Arabia, has yet to resume operations after a strike. Yanbu, the country’s key oil export port on the Red Sea coast, has also come under attack, having been targeted previously. The East-West pipeline, Aramco’s main route for delivering oil to global markets, was also temporarily shut down in September following an attack. The pipeline provides an alternative route for Saudi crude exports while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted.
