Saudi Aramco has instructed staff to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran and work remotely, six people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. i24News also reported the evacuation order on Thursday. This story attributes the order to those reports — Aramco itself has not publicly confirmed it.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

Reuters said the move marked the first time Aramco had asked staff to evacuate its headquarters since the start of the Iran war. The Dhahran facility hosts an operations centre that helps the world's largest oil company oversee onshore and offshore oil rigs, refineries, export terminals and thousands of kilometres of pipelines — which is why an evacuation there is watched closely by energy markets and by the large Indian and Punjabi workforce across Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.

Why the headquarters was already damaged

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis caused extensive damage to the company's headquarters earlier this month when they struck the building, with fire spreading across several floors, Reuters reported. Separately, two people were killed on Wednesday after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone that was attempting to hit a facility at Aramco's Shaybah oilfield, the Saudi energy ministry said — a toll also reported by Upstream, the energy trade publication.

Saudi Arabia has responded to Houthi attacks with a wave of strikes on missile launcher sites, vowing to protect the kingdom, and says it has intercepted many ballistic missiles fired by the group, Reuters reported. Those interception and strike claims are Saudi Arabia's account, reported as such. The United States has also ordered some diplomats and family members to leave its missions in Saudi Arabia amid the Houthi attacks, Reuters and The Guardian reported.