Saudi Aramco tells staff to evacuate Dhahran headquarters, sources say

Oil giant ​Saudi Aramco has instructed ​staff to evacuate its ‌headquarters ​in Dhahran and work remotely, six people with knowledge of the matter said ‌on Thursday.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The move marked the first time Aramco had asked staff ‌to evacuate its headquarters since the start of the Iran ‌war.

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. 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 pipelines.

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. 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.