Saudi Aramco Administrative Building Hit as Houthis and Coalition Exchange Strikes on Energy Sites

An administrative building at the Saudi Aramco headquarters complex in Dhahran caught fire on the evening of 13 October 2026 after a missile strike attributed to Yemen’s Houthi forces.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry stated that the incident produced a limited fire and no casualties. A company source told Reuters that a ballistic missile struck an office tower in the complex and damaged its top three floors. The Dhahran site serves as a major operations center overseeing Aramco’s network of oil fields, pipelines, refineries, and export terminals. Saudi authorities responded to the fire and took standard protective measures.

Hours earlier, the Saudi-led coalition had struck fuel and energy sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Targets included the Al-Sabaha central station of the Yemen Oil Company on the outskirts of Sanaa, underground storage, and facilities at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the sites were used to supply the Houthis’ missile and drone arsenal and posed threats to Saudi airports, ports, and shipping in the southern Red Sea. Houthi media reported explosions at the Sanaa oil facility and issued evacuation warnings for Saudi energy sites and airports.

The Houthis responded with further launches. Saudi civil defense reported that debris from two intercepted cruise missiles wounded four people in Riyadh: two women, a man, and a child. Fifteen homes sustained limited damage. The coalition said it intercepted missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh and southern Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has been targeted multiple times in the preceding week, including an attack on 11 October that killed 13 people, the deadliest strike on Saudi soil in a decade.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree warned of a “harsh and painful” response and named Riyadh airport, a capital refinery, and Aramco facilities in the Eastern Province as legitimate targets. The group has maintained pressure on Saudi energy and aviation infrastructure while the coalition supports Yemeni government forces in a renewed phase of the civil war. Several countries, including France, issued travel advisories urging citizens to avoid major Saudi airports.

The exchange marks a clear escalation after a period of relative restraint. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had sought to reassure markets that the kingdom’s supply remained resilient. The hit on the Dhahran complex, even if limited, brings the fighting directly to the administrative heart of the world’s largest oil company. No disruption to production or exports has been reported.

The pattern of strikes on both sides continues a cycle in which coalition attacks on Houthi fuel logistics are met with missile and drone replies aimed at Saudi population centers and energy infrastructure. With Riyadh airport still recovering from earlier hits and Dhahran now affected, the immediate operational risk to commercial aviation and corporate continuity has risen.