# Houthis name Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and a Riyadh refinery as targets after Saudi coalition strikes a Sanaa fuel depot

> The Saudi-led coalition struck a Yemen Petroleum Company fuel depot outside Sanaa on October 13, and Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree named Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and an oil refinery in Riyadh as possible targets, per Reuters. Late that evening loud booms were reported near the Dhahran headquarters, with four of six sources telling Reuters an evacuation order was issued; Aramco did not comment, and the coalition said fragments of an intercepted missile fell on a residential area.

- Label: Fact
- Type: News item
- Published: 2026-10-14T06:00:00+09:00
- Written: 2026-10-22, as of the published date (a catch-up edition)
- By: Jun Zhong
- Researched and drafted by: Beacon's AI newsroom
- Status: unconfirmed
- Topics: Upstream and offshore, Refining
- Canonical: https://beacon.winda.ai/news/2026-10-14-saudi-aramco/

## Where it stands

As of the evening of October 13, the Houthis had publicly named Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and an oil refinery in Riyadh as possible targets and reissued warnings to oil workers in Saudi Arabia to stay away from sites that could be hit, per Reuters [1]. Loud booms were then reported near the Dhahran headquarters; one of six sources cited by Reuters said a building was struck, without knowing whether by a direct hit or falling debris, and four said an evacuation order was issued [3]. Aramco did not comment, and the Saudi-led coalition said fragments of an intercepted missile fell on a residential area [3]. No damage to an Aramco facility had been confirmed by the company or the Saudi government at this edition's time.

## What happened

The Houthis claimed a Saturday, October 10, strike on Riyadh's international airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, and further attacks followed on Sunday, per Reuters [4]. Reuters called the airport strike the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in a decade; flights were grounded nationwide during a major energy conference [1]. Blasts were heard over Riyadh late on Monday, October 12, when the coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile, and on Tuesday it said it intercepted three drones north of Riyadh [2].

On Tuesday, October 13, the coalition warned civilians away from an oil depot on Sanaa's outskirts and then struck it; Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV identified the site as the Yemen Petroleum Company's Sabah central station, and the company said it held no petroleum stocks and the strike did not affect reserves or supply chains [1]. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the sites hit, including two in Saada and Dhamar, were used to "supply the war effort" [2].

Before the strike, Saree threatened a "harsh and painful" response and, per Reuters, named Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and a Riyadh refinery as possible targets [1]. The Times of Israel's agency account of the same threat lists Riyadh's airport, a refinery and an Aramco facility in Dammam [2]. The Saudi cabinet said the Houthis would face consequences, and President Trump said he spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [1].

The threats come as Saudi output recovers. Saudi Arabia told OPEC it pumped 8.372 million b/d of crude in September, up more than 2 million b/d from August, per Reuters on the OPEC monthly report published October 13 [5].

**Analysis:**
## What it means

The threat names sites in the Eastern Province and the capital, far from the Jazan refinery the Houthis claimed in August. Dhahran is an administrative headquarters, not a production asset, so even a confirmed hit there would say more about reach than about barrels. The refinery threat is different: a Riyadh refinery is a processing asset, and the accounts do not agree on which site was named.

For integrity and operations teams with Saudi exposure, the practical change is the renewed warning to oil workers. Expect access restrictions, evacuation drills and deferred non-essential site work at named and nearby facilities, which slows inspection and turnaround schedules. Watch for three things: a Saudi energy ministry or Aramco statement on Dhahran, whether any Riyadh refinery reports an outage, and whether attacks reach the East-West pump stations, damaged in September by attackers still unconfirmed, that carry much of the recovered volume. With Saudi crude back above 8 million b/d, more barrels now depend on assets the Houthis say they will hit.

## Sources

1. [Saudi Arabia strikes Sanaa as Houthis warn of retaliation, Reuters](https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-10-13-saudi-arabia-strikes-sanaa-as-houthis-warn-of-retaliation/), 2026-10-13
2. [Saudi Arabia strikes oil facility in Yemen capital Sanaa as Houthis up threats, The Times of Israel](https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-arabia-strikes-oil-facility-in-yemen-capital-sanaa-as-houthis-up-threats/), 2026-10-13
3. [Catch up time! Oil settles mixed, Brent near $106; booms reported near Aramco HQ in Dhahran, investingLive](https://investinglive.com/commodities/catch-up-time-oil-settles-mixed-brent-near-106-booms-reported-near-aramco-hq-in-dhahran/), 2026-10-13
4. [Oil Prices Rise 2% as Attacks on Saudi Arabia Overshadow Trump's Diesel Deal, Reuters](https://gvwire.com/2026/10/12/oil-prices-rise-2-as-attacks-on-saudi-arabia-overshadow-trumps-diesel-deal/), 2026-10-12
5. [OPEC raises 2027 oil demand view, citing need to rebuild stocks, Reuters](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/opec-raises-2027-oil-demand-view-citing-need-to-rebuild-stocks), 2026-10-13

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