War Collides With Saudi Ambition at a Gathering of Oil Powers

Outside Riyadh’s cavernous exhibition center, where hundreds of oil and gas executives gathered this week for an international energy summit, foreign diplomats received a warning of a potential missile bound for the Saudi Arabian capital.Inside the hall, there was an urgent announcement: Attendees should please take their seats, because Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, was about to take the stage.Saudi Arabia has faced a severe escalation of cross-border missile and drone attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen.Missile strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh have killed at least 17 people and injured hundreds.

Saudi authorities suspended commercial operations at the airport until further notice.The timing was hard to miss.Delegates to the WPC Energy Congress, which started on Sunday, were forced to reroute to other airports and even countries in the region.

Some including the chief executives of Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP canceled their scheduled appearances altogether.Despite the threats, Saudi officials are working to convey an air of unflappable calm at the conference, which is scheduled to continue until Friday.“The word ‘fear’ in the Saudi dictionary does not exist,” Prince Abdulaziz said defiantly on Monday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....