The chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron and BP were dropped from the agenda of the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday, as the world's biggest energy gathering pressed ahead in a Saudi capital shaken by deadly Houthi missile strikes on its international airport.
Reuters reported that all five oil chiefs had been expected at the triennial event, which opened on Sunday, October 11, but were no longer listed on the programme conference organisers released early Monday. The withdrawals strip the opening days of the five-day congress of the industry's most prominent corporate voices.
Five oil chiefs disappear from the agenda
BP was the first major to confirm its absence, saying on Sunday it had cancelled its attendance because of the travel disruption. BP chief executive Meg O'Neill had appeared on earlier versions of the congress programme.
"We made every effort to participate in WPC," a BP spokesperson said. "Unfortunately, due to travel disruption we are unable to be there in person. We greatly value our long-standing partnerships across the region."
The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Shell had also been expected at the congress but withdrew. Shell declined to comment, while TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The congress venue sits about 10 kilometres (6 miles) from King Khalid International Airport, which has been hit four times in the last week, according to Reuters.
An airport under fire
The executive pullouts follow a string of strikes that have turned the Saudi capital's airport into one of the most dangerous pieces of civilian infrastructure in the region. A missile strike on Saturday, October 10, killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, Saudi authorities said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the Gulf in years.
The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and nationals of the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Sudan and India. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack in a televised statement.
The airport has been closed since Saturday. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said 99.7 percent of scheduled flights were cancelled on Sunday, with around 60 percent expected to be cancelled on Monday. Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights to Riyadh until October 16, Air France-KLM has extended its suspension until the end of the month, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has told American carriers to exercise caution flying to or over Saudi Arabia.
A test for Vision 2030
Opening Monday's session, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman thanked those who had travelled to Riyadh and acknowledged the threat had not passed.
"To everyone who travelled to Riyadh, thank you," he said. "You know this country is safe and that we hold your protection at whole heart… Our gathering here does not mean the risk is gone." He added that the events of recent weeks were serious and that the kingdom's response must be "equally serious."
The congress is the first to be held in Saudi Arabia. Originally scheduled for April 2026, it was postponed after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in late February. First held in Britain in 1933, the event takes place once every three years and was expected to draw more than 25,000 participants. Saudi state media reported that the energy minister signed cooperation memorandums with Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt on Sunday.
For Riyadh, the hollowed-out agenda is a blow to Vision 2030, the multi-billion-dollar programme to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil and turn the kingdom into an investment and tourism hub. The world's most important energy forum is meeting without its most important energy executives — a stark measure of how a week of missile strikes has redrawn the map of business risk in the Gulf.
Watch: The Straits Times' video report on the October 10 Houthi missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, covering the deadliest attack in a decade, the airport's closure and the mass cancellation of flights.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Volatile Reaction (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Reuters — Top oil executives dropped from event schedule after Riyadh attacks
- Reuters — BP withdraws from Riyadh energy conference after airport attack
- Reuters — Skies over Saudi capital largely empty after deadly Houthi strikes
- USA Today — Saudi airport attacked after Houthis claim deadly Riyadh strike