War Collides With Saudi Ambition at a Gathering of Oil Powers

Outside Riyadh’s cavernous exhibition center, where hundreds of oil and gas executives gathered this week for an international energy summit, foreign diplomats received a warning of a potential missile bound for the Saudi Arabian capital.

Inside the hall, there was an urgent announcement: Attendees should please take their seats, because Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, was about to take the stage.

Saudi Arabia has faced a severe escalation of cross-border missile and drone attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen. Missile strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh have killed at least 17 people and injured hundreds. Saudi authorities suspended commercial operations at the airport until further notice.

The timing was hard to miss. Delegates to the WPC Energy Congress, which started on Sunday, were forced to reroute to other airports and even countries in the region. Some including the chief executives of Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP canceled their scheduled appearances altogether.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/business/saudi-arabia-houthi-oil.html