Saudi Aramco employees were instructed to leave the company’s headquarters in Dhahran and work remotely on Thursday, October 22, according to separate reports by Reuters and Bloomberg.

Reuters cited six people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg, in a report carried by Moneycontrol, said the instruction followed an alarm at the headquarters.

Reason and duration remain unclear

Bloomberg’s sources did not know what triggered the alarm or how long the remote-work arrangement would last. The company and Saudi energy ministry had not immediately answered Bloomberg’s requests for comment.

The reporting does not establish that a new strike caused Thursday’s evacuation.

Bloomberg said a tower in the headquarters compound had been hit by Houthi militants the previous week, damaging three floors and causing a fire. That earlier attack is separate from the newly reported staff instruction.

Headquarters has an operations role

Reuters describes an operations centre in the complex that oversees oil infrastructure, including rigs, refineries, export facilities and pipelines.

Neither report quantified any oil-production impact from Thursday’s headquarters evacuation.

Sources: Reuters, October 22; Bloomberg via Moneycontrol, October 22.

Editorial illustration of an office workstation and a Gulf corporate district.