Houthi Missile Strike on Saudi Aramco's Dhahran Headquarters Pushes Brent Crude Above $105
On Tuesday night, a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, igniting a fire in an office tower but resulting in no casualties. The upper three floors of the tower sustained significant damage. In the aftermath, Brent crude prices closed at $105.92 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate reached $93.39. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree issued a warning of a "harsh and painful" retaliation against Saudi strikes, specifically mentioning Dhahran and a refinery in Riyadh as potential targets. This incident followed a coalition attack on a Yemen Petroleum Company facility. For over a week, the Houthis have been targeting Saudi locations, including a missile strike on Riyadh's airport that resulted in 13 fatalities, prompting airlines to suspend flights to Saudi Arabia amid escalating oil prices.
Key facts
- A Houthi ballistic missile struck Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters complex on Tuesday night, causing a limited fire in an administrative building with no injuries or fatalities
- The missile severely damaged the uppermost three floors of one office tower, according to a company source cited by Reuters
- Brent crude for December delivery settled at $105.92 a barrel on Wednesday, up 0.2%, and December West Texas Intermediate closed at $93.39 a barrel, also 0.2% higher
- Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree warned Tuesday that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would bring a "harsh and painful" response, naming the Dhahran headquarters and a Riyadh refinery as potential targets
- The Dhahran strike followed a Saudi-led coalition attack on the Yemen Petroleum Company's al-Sabah central station in Sanaa
- An unidentified projectile hit a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to U.K. Maritime Trade Operations
- U.S. Central Command said its forces helped Gulf partners move more than 19 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz the previous day
- A ballistic missile struck Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, killing 13 people — the deadliest such attack in Saudi Arabia in a decade
- Four strikes have hit Riyadh's airport, prompting Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Delta, and Qatar Airways to suspend flights to Saudi Arabia
- The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its fourth-quarter Brent forecast by $14 to an average of $105 a barrel
Entities
Artists
- Yahya Saree
Institutions
- Saudi Aramco
- Houthis
- Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry
- Reuters
- Al Jazeera
- Saudi-led coalition
- Yemen Petroleum Company
- U.K. Maritime Trade Operations
- The Wall Street Journal
- U.S. Central Command
- Air France-KLM
- Lufthansa
- Delta
- Qatar Airways
- U.S. Energy Information Administration
- Aramco
- Saudi energy ministry
- Saudi civil defence agency
Locations
- Dhahran
- Saudi Arabia
- Sanaa
- Yemen
- Riyadh
- Strait of Hormuz
- U.S. Gulf of Mexico
- United States
Sources
- Quartz —
- SCMP Culture —