Saudi state oil giant Aramco has reportedly told staff to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran on the Persian Gulf, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting six people with knowledge of the matter, as fighting between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis intensifies.
Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognized government have raged since the group pushed toward Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint at the Red Sea's mouth.
The reported instruction to staff to evacuate the building and work remotely follows a wave of Houthi attacks on the kingdom, targeting the company and Saudi airports. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on what would be the first evacuation since the start of the Iran war.
It was unclear what the reason for the evacuation was.
The kingdom's benchmark index TASI dropped 2.5% on Thursday following the Aramco news, according to LSEG data.
Oil prices rose to their highest since May on Thursday on concern over an escalation of the Middle East conflict and its impact on crude oil supplies from the world's key exporting region.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech that the group had launched attacks on Aramco facilities in the Red Sea city of Yanbu and the Saudi Defense Ministry in the capital, Riyadh. Saudi authorities did not confirm the attack.
