Aramco Evacuates Headquarters in Dhahran Following Escalating Houthi Attacks
Aramco evacuated its Dhahran HQ and shifted to remote work after Houthi attacks killed two and wounded eight at Dammam Airport and two at a Saudi oil field.
Saudi Aramco requested its employees to evacuate its main headquarters in Dhahran and work remotely following the escalation of Houthi attacks on Saudi facilities, according to Reuters.
Attacks targeting Dammam Airport resulted in the deaths of two people and injured eight others, according to The Guardian. The newspaper stated that a drone attack on a Saudi oil field killed two people. Washington ordered some diplomats and their family members to leave its missions in Saudi Arabia, and intends to withdraw family members of diplomats from other missions in the Middle East, according to The Guardian citing Reuters.
The Guardian noted that the attacks rattled markets, with Brent crude jumping 3% to $112 a barrel, its highest level since May 18, amid growing fears of an escalating conflict in the region and further disruption to crude supplies. The Saudi stock market's main TASI index fell 2.3% in Thursday's session, according to Asharq Al-Awsat English.
Emirates 24/7 reported, citing Reuters, that the evacuation would be the first of its kind since the start of the war on Iran, while Aramco did not respond to a request for comment. According to the website, the General Authority of Civil Aviation stated that operations at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam had resumed and flight traffic had returned to normal.
What do these terms mean?
Brent Crude: One of the most important oil pricing benchmarks in the world, used as a reference for crude prices in global markets.
TASI Index: The main index of the Saudi Stock Exchange, which measures the performance of listed companies.
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