Morning Highlights: Aramco Orders Dhahran Headquarters Evacuated as Brent Heads for a Third Weekly Gain

Friday, October 23, 2026 | 6:45 AM ET

Brent (December) $114.66 | WTI (December) $100.98

Brent +$1.49 (+1.3%), its highest since May 4, and on track for a third straight weekly gain of about 4%. WTI +$1.51 (+1.5%), poised to finish about 0.3% lower on the week. Reuters reported Aramco ordered the evacuation of its Dhahran headquarters on Thursday as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis intensified. The first Russian diesel cargo under the Trump-Putin deal is heading for New York.

Bottom Line

Aramco’s evacuation order for its Dhahran headquarters is the latest step in a week of escalation, and the reporting doesn’t say whether operations there are affected. Dhahran hosts the operations center that oversees Aramco’s rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals. An office tower in the same complex was hit on October 13, and the Houthis have said oil facilities are legitimate targets. The clashes between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have raged since the Houthis pushed toward Bab el-Mandeb. UBS’s Giovanni Staunovo said the market remains concerned about escalation that could trigger renewed supply disruptions, and that volatile flows and elevated freight rates have left the market undersupplied.

The first Russian diesel cargo arrives after the midterms. LSEG data show the Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes loaded 40,000 metric tons of ultra-low sulphur diesel at Primorsk on October 22. It is heading for New York and is due on November 7, four days after the vote. Reuters says it would be the first Russian cargo imported by the US since Biden’s 2022 ban on Russian oil and products. The buyer and seller haven’t been identified. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said last week that the US Treasury asked Russia’s sovereign wealth fund to help sort out payment issues, which suggests the mechanics are still being worked out. The cargo is about 13% of the 300,000 tons Trump promised for the first tranche, or roughly 300,000 barrels, and Kpler’s Michelle Brouhard has said it would take an extra 400,000 bpd to ease prices materially. Last week’s Primorsk loadings had unclear destinations, with most tankers signalling Gibraltar, the Atlantic coast or Port Said. Since the EU embargo in February 2023, Russia has sold diesel mainly to Brazil, Turkey and Africa. Novak has said exports could reach the usual 3 to 3.5 million tons a month by year-end, and that more shipments will follow as contracts are worked out.

One physical incident to watch: the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said an oil spill from a tanker off Umm Al Quwain is affecting beaches and prompted containment and environmental assessments. The ministry did not say what caused it, and authorities haven’t identified the tanker.