The Houthis, an Iran-backed armed Yemeni political and religious group which controls territory containing 70-80% of the Yemeni population, allege that they carried out the attack on Saturday, striking a facility belonging to the Saudi oil company Aramco with missiles and drones.
"In response to the Saudi aggression against the capital Sana'a and the liberated provinces ... the Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out a qualitative military operation using a number of ballistic missiles and drones targeting Aramco Company in the Saudi enemy's capital, Riyadh," Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.
However, the internationally-recognized, Saudi-backed government in Yemen, which has been at war with the Houthis for over a decade, stated on Saturday that the Houthis' claims of attacking Riyadh were a misleading attempt to distract from their own losses.
Images of the site taken on Saturday show flames and smoke at the facility, indicating that some form of damage has taken place irrespective of the lack of confirmation by either the Saudi authorities or Aramco itself.
Another indication that the attack on Aramco was carried out with success was the response to the Houthis.
The Yemeni government and its Saudi-led coalition of allies have intensified attacks against the Houthis since the alleged strike on Aramco, with the Yemeni government announcing late on Saturday that they were conducting "painful strikes" against Houthi-controlled areas in the capital of Sanaa as well as the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada.
Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, also announced on Sunday the "commencement of military operations to recover what remains of the Republic's lands, and to extend the authority of the state and its institutions over the entire national territory."
Saudi Arabia is backing the major counteroffensive, but U.S. support for the operation will be limited to intelligence sharing and target support, Axios reported.
The attack on Aramco, if confirmed, is not the first of its kind. In late September Houthi forces launched missiles towards the Aramco facilities in the eastern Saudi port city of Yanbu. Six missiles fired by the Houthis were intercepted, according to Riyadh.
The Houthis insisted that the operation achieved its objective. No damage or casualties were reported by the Saudis. However, oil jumped regardless, with Brent Crude topping $106 a barrel in the immediate aftermath of the claimed attacks.
These new attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, which appear to have had some measure of success, could drive up oil prices worldwide.
Saudi Arabia is a key node in the global supply chain; the Middle Eastern nation is the largest oil exporter in the world and the majority state-owned Saudi Aramco is the largest global oil-producing company with a market capitalization above $1 trillion.
Saudi oil exports have been rising recently despite hostilities between the U.S. and Iran and the Houthis declaration of an embargo of Saudi oil in the Red Sea; Riyadh was exporting an average of six million barrels a day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began and the equivalent of the Saudi monthly average in 2025.
However, disruptions to the Saudi's physical supply chain could reverse this progress, and the psychological impact the strikes have on an already volatile market could precipitate a spike in oil prices next week if escalation continues.
