Saudi minister says Riyadh is safe, despite deadly airport attacks

• Prince Abdulaziz spoke at event
• Pledges to carry on investing
• Some foreign executives pull out

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister sought to reassure international companies that Riyadh is “safe” as he pledged to continue investing in the kingdom’s oil and gas industry at a flagship conference on Monday.

Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Al Saud made the comments in the opening speech at the WPC Energy Congress 2026 event, where several high-profile executives due to speak are no longer listed on the official programme.

The withdrawals followed deadly strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants on the capital’s King Khalid International Airport and flight cancellations at airports across the country.

“We always expected this congress to take place at an important moment of global energy, we could not have known how demanding that moment would become,” Prince Abdulaziz told WPC attendees.

“To everyone who has travelled to Riyadh, thank you, thank you because you know this country is safe,” he said.

An attack on King Khalid International Airport on Saturday killed 13 people and wounded hundreds. A further strike on Sunday killed a Pakistani national.

Authorities have suspended flights at King Khalid for safety reasons and have yet to say when the airport will reopen.

The 25th WPC Energy Congress, a major event in the oil and gas industry’s calendar, runs from October 11 to 15 at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre, just 13 kilometres from the airport.

The congress was originally due to take place in April, in the early weeks of the Iran war, but was postponed until October.

Executives and board members of companies from British energy majors BP and Shell, France’s TotalEnergies and US companies including ConocoPhillips, Occidental and ExxonMobil, who had been due to speak, are no longer listed on the event’s programme.

Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Arabia was committed to investing in local supply chains and infrastructure in a bid to strengthen energy security.

The kingdom, he said, has benefited during the Iran war from long-term investments such as the East-West pipeline, which runs to the Red Sea and allowed it to keep exporting oil.

The pipeline bypasses the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, an energy chokepoint where conflict has disrupted traffic for months. A Houthi attack temporarily disrupted oil flows in September.

“We will continue investing in reliable oil and gas supply, expanding our renewable energy and strengthening electricity network, storage and gas infrastructure,” Prince Abdulaziz said on Monday.

“We will continue developing new technology and lower-emission solutions, we will continue building domestic manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. And we will continue investing in our people.”

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Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar to explore energy cooperation including the construction of oil and gas pipelines.

AGBI reported earlier this month that Saudi Arabia is also considering a 1,000km pipeline to the Omani port of Duqm.

Prince Abdulaziz said Vision 2030, the kingdom’s economic blueprint for diversifying the economy and reducing its dependence on oil revenues, “must continue” in the coming years.

The Future Investment Initiative conference, another headline event in the kingdom’s business calendar known as the “Davos of the Desert”, is due to be held in Riyadh later this month.