Loud explosions were reported near Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran on Tuesday night as fighting between Yemen’s Houthi forces and a Saudi-led coalition intensified, raising fears of further attacks on the kingdom’s critical oil infrastructure.
Six sources told Reuters that powerful blasts were heard near the headquarters of the Saudi state-owned energy giant in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
A source familiar with the incident said the Aramco headquarters had been struck, although it remained unclear whether the building sustained a direct hit or was damaged by falling debris from an intercepted projectile.
Another source reported a fire at the headquarters, while four sources said an evacuation order had been issued.
Saudi Aramco had not publicly commented on the reports.
The Saudi-led coalition said air defences intercepted and destroyed a missile over Dhahran, with fragments falling into a residential neighbourhood. It provided no immediate information about casualties or damage.
Saudi authorities also reported intercepting drones and missiles targeting the capital, Riyadh, and southern parts of the kingdom.
The explosions came amid a sharp escalation in hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have launched repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks against strategic Saudi facilities over the past week.
The Houthis say their attacks are retaliation for Riyadh’s military support for Yemeni government forces in the country’s renewed civil war.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has reportedly been struck four times during the latest escalation, including an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people.
Meanwhile, Saudi-led coalition forces carried out strikes against targets in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, according to Houthi officials.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported that coalition aircraft targeted the Yemen Petroleum Company’s Sabah central station, a fuel storage facility on the outskirts of the capital.
The coalition had earlier warned civilians to stay away from the facility, signalling an imminent military operation.
The latest exchanges mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with attacks increasingly threatening energy infrastructure, aviation facilities and densely populated areas.
The reported incident in Dhahran has heightened concerns about the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, a cornerstone of the kingdom’s economy and a major supplier to global energy markets.
The extent of any damage to Aramco facilities remained unclear, and there was no immediate independent confirmation of a direct strike on the company’s headquarters.
