Commodities
Saudi Aramco tells staff to leave its Dhahran headquarters after a night of Houthi attacks on the Eastern Province
The first evacuation of Aramco's head office since the Iran war began follows a deadly drone strike near the Shaybah oilfield and an attack on Dammam's airport, with Brent already above $110.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Saudi Aramco has instructed employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran and work remotely, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing six people with knowledge of the matter. It is the first time the state oil company has cleared its head office since the Iran war started. The reason was not clear, and Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The building houses an operations centre that helps oversee Aramco's onshore and offshore rigs, refineries, export terminals and pipeline network. According to Reuters, a Houthi strike earlier in October caused extensive damage there, with fire spreading across several floors.
The move comes after a run of attacks on Wednesday. Saudi air defences intercepted a drone aimed at a processing plant at the Shaybah oilfield, a field of about 1 million barrels a day near the UAE border; falling debris killed two people, and the energy ministry said output was unaffected. Hours later an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, about 15 km north of Dhahran, injured eight people, with reports differing on the death toll. Washington has ordered some diplomats and their families to leave Saudi Arabia. Brent was up 1.7% at $110.63 a barrel early on Thursday (03:36 UTC).
Why it matters: the attacks are now reaching the nerve centre of the world's largest oil exporter, not just outlying assets. Saudi supply has only partly recovered, at about 8 million barrels a day in September against more than 10 million before the war, and the 7 million b/d East-West pipeline that bypasses Hormuz reportedly stopped flowing after an October 5 strike. Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said on Thursday the company is studying alternatives to the Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and Suez routes and wants partner countries to help expand its strategic stockpiles. Watch for any Aramco statement on operations and for how far the risk premium in Brent extends.