Saudi Aramco headquarters suffered extensive damage in Houthi attack

RIYADH, Oct 14: Oil giant Saudi Aramco's (2223.SE), opens new tab headquarters in Dhahran suffered extensive damage in an attack on Tuesday, with a fire spreading across several floors, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Operations at the complex in eastern Saudi Arabia have continued normally but some employees have been asked to work from home, according to two of the people.

A fourth person said some functions had been shifted to global offices, adding that the fire was still burning into the early hours of Wednesday.

The facility hosts an operations centre which helps the world's largest oil company oversee onshore and offshore oil rigs, refineries, export terminals and thousands of kilometres of pipeline.

Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said in a statement that Tuesday night's attack, which came as fighting between Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis and the kingdom intensified, had caused a limited fire.

Two of the sources said a fire started on the ninth floor of the south wing of the office block, and spread between the sixth and 10th floors.

Another source added that the top three floors of building, where the office of Aramco CEO Amin Nasser is located, were severely damaged, with part of the ceiling caved in and windows and doors blown out.
Aramco did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Houthis said Wednesday they had targeted facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco, after Saudi officials reported a strike on a building in an area housing the energy giant's operations centre.

Powerful explosions meanwhile rattled the Saudi capital, as the coalition fighting the Houthis said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed group towards Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, has in recent days come under sustained attack in a dramatic escalation in the war with the Houthis.

It has hit back with strikes against the group's stronghold in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which for years has been under their grip.

Yahya Saree, Houthi military spokesman, said their forces had conducted "a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran" as well as strikes targeting Riyadh airport and a refinery in the 
capital.�" Agencies