Saudi Arabia picks up the pieces
Saudi Arabia faces a variety of challenges emanating from the attacks on its oil installations
The kingdom remains in a state of shock. The unprecedented drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities in the early hours of 14 September, which halted about half of the country’s oil output, arguably represent a pivotal moment for the country. “Saudi Arabia today is not the place it was before the attacks,” says an economist in Riyadh, who asks not to be named. “Suddenly we feel vulnerable.” Saudi Arabia has three immediate goals: to replace the damaged oil installations and restore output capacity to its previous level; to beef up its defences to prevent another attack; and to assess the damage to the kingdom’s reputation in the context of the planned Saudi Aramco in
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
