Oil chiefs skip Riyadh energy congress after deadly Houthi airport strike

What’s going on here?

The Financial Times (FT) reported that BP and other energy companies are skipping the World Petroleum Council meeting in Riyadh after a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said Saturday's strike killed 12 people and injured 309, a few days after an earlier attack killed three Saudis, including a pilot. Another projectile hit a terminal on Sunday, the Associated Press reported. Saudi officials say the five-day congress, held at a venue near the airport, is going ahead. Lufthansa has halted Riyadh flights until next Friday, and President Trump said the US may join Saudi Arabia in hitting back at the Houthis.

What does this mean?

The congress is one of the oil industry's flagship events, and Saudi state television had said more than 70 ministers and about 300 company executives had confirmed they would take part. Executives deciding to stay away, or to dial in by video, is a small thing in itself. What it signals is bigger: Riyadh is no longer seen as safely behind the front line of the conflict.

Until now, the Houthi threat to oil markets was mostly about shipping. The group has tried to choke tanker traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, while Iran has done the same in the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia's offensive in Yemen aims to retake coastline overlooking Bab el-Mandeb, which matters because the Red Sea route is the main alternative to Hormuz. Repeated strikes on the Saudi capital suggest the Houthis can still hit back hard.

There is also a political layer. Saudi officials have asked Washington for urgent defense support, and Trump told reporters that a decision would come quickly. Direct US strikes on the Houthis would be the first since an operation that ended in May 2025, according to the Critical Threats Project. Britain says it is helping Saudi defenses but is not joining offensive operations for now.

For energy markets, the key question is whether attacks stay focused on airports or start reaching oil facilities and export terminals. Energy prices have already climbed sharply since the Iran war began in February, and US fuel costs have become a major issue ahead of next month's midterm elections.

The bull case

For oil producers and their shareholders, a higher perceived risk to Gulf supply can keep crude prices elevated, which supports cash flows at companies such as BP and US energy majors. If the US backs Saudi Arabia and Houthi missile launches are curbed, the threat to Red Sea shipping could ease, which would help airlines and fuel buyers and calm markets over time.

The bear case

A wider war that draws in the US could bring more disruption, not less. Further strikes on Saudi territory could hit energy infrastructure, push fuel costs higher and squeeze consumers and airlines that are already suspending flights. A conflict that spreads also raises uncertainty for Gulf investments, and higher energy costs could keep inflation and interest rates higher for longer.