Blasts Rattle Riyadh a Day After Houthi Airport Strikes Kill Three

Thursday, October 8, 2026 | 6:35 AM ET

Brent (December) $105.02 | WTI (November) $92.44

Brent +$4.82 (+4.13%), WTI +$4.16 (+4.2%) Several explosions were heard in Riyadh early Thursday, and the cause was not immediately clear. Saudi authorities said Wednesday that Houthi strikes on airports in Riyadh and Abha killed three people and injured dozens. Offshore producers had shut in about 25% of US Gulf of Mexico oil output ahead of Hurricane Isaias.

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Riyadh is where the day's risk sits. A New York Times reporter heard several blasts in quick succession Thursday morning, and two residents said workers at an office tower had been told to evacuate. Saudi authorities have not commented, and they have told residents not to share information about missile and drone attacks, so confirmed detail will come slowly. This follows what Saudi authorities described as the deadliest Houthi attacks on the kingdom yet: the Wednesday strikes on the Riyadh and Abha airports killed three and injured dozens. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group hit Riyadh's airport with a ballistic missile, and the Saudi-led coalition said it answered by attacking dozens of Houthi sites, including missile storage and command centers. None of the accounts name an oil facility as hit, but the Houthis claimed strikes on Aramco sites in Riyadh and Khurais earlier this week, and that claim has not been confirmed.

The conflict is widening beyond the two sides. Syria is weighing military assistance to Saudi Arabia, a US official and a Syrian military official said, ranging from defensive aid to deploying forces to support Saudi-backed Yemeni troops. The Yemeni government's offensive to retake the Red Sea coast, including areas overlooking Bab el-Mandeb, began this week, and the UN says nearly 200,000 Yemenis have been displaced since September. Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export route through Yanbu has only just restarted, so the fighting matters for crude flows as well as security.

On Iran, treat the strike reports as unconfirmed. Axios reported that Washington is preparing to resume major combat operations, and Reuters could not verify it. The Atlantic reported that the White House has asked the Pentagon for strike options that could be used before the November 3 midterms, according to two administration officials, with the aim of lowering gasoline prices and showing progress in the war. IG's Chris Beauchamp said the US may be trying to pressure Iran to the table, but that a new round of strikes can't be ruled out and investors aren't taking chances. A strike would push pump prices the opposite way in the near term, which is the tension in that plan. The US has not hit Iran in several weeks.

Shipping risk adds to it. Attacks on tankers in Hormuz last week were the highest weekly count since the war began, sources told Reuters, even as Gulf producers raised exports. MST Marquee's Saul Kavonic said the frequency of Iranian attacks on ships is at its highest point since the war began and is likely to intensify further, and that constrained product flows, extreme logistics costs and likely Iranian escalation are keeping prices elevated.

The storm is now cutting US output. Shell and Chevron said Wednesday they are curtailing Gulf of Mexico operations as Hurricane Isaias approaches. As of Wednesday, producers had shut in about 25.08% of oil production and 16.37% of natural gas production, per the Marine Minerals Administration. EIA data Wednesday showed crude stocks fell by more than expected, and diesel inventories declined slightly. The IEA agreed Wednesday to accelerate the release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel supplies, which helped prices settle lower, though no volumes were given.