THIS MORNING: Oil major execs drop out of WPC Energy congress as Houthis continue striking airports

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Riyadh and Dammam continue to face the brunt of attacks from the Houthis, with both cities’ airports hit and damage assessments still under way.

Riyadh schools are holding classes online this week after Saturday’s airport attack, the second such directive in less than a month. The current schedule runs through this Thursday, 15 October, at some schools, while others have moved to virtual lessons indefinitely, Siasat reported, citing emailed notices it had seen. Parents have been advised to check school communications for class schedules, instructions and any changes to exam dates. Many companies have also shifted to working from home, several sources have told us.

Meanwhile: Saudi money has moved into the instruments that pay something to wait. Money market funds are now the largest category in the public fund industry, ahead of equity funds, debt funds are the fastest-growing, and equity funds took net outflows over the first half. Owners price a listing against what buyers can earn sitting in a money market fund, and the queue thins while that comparison holds.

War watch

The Houthis have claimed responsibility for attacks on airports and Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement released yesterday by Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree. The attacks took place over the previous 24 hours and involved ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones, Saree said. The targets included King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, as well as Aramco’s Shedgum gas plant and Tanajib oil facility in the Eastern Province. Saudi-led coalition forces intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis targeting Khamis Mushait earlier today, coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al Maliki said.

The group is still targeting the Riyadh airport and are warning carriers, airport staff, and travelers against using Saudi airports. An unknown projectile hit Passenger Hall 4 at King Khalid International Airport, igniting a fire, the Saudi-led coalition said. The attack resulted in the death of one Pakistani national and 11 injuries, while the material damage is still being assessed, SPA reported. Air defenses also intercepted and destroyed a separate cruise missile near the airport.

ICYMI- The weekend attack on Riyadh airport killed 12 people and injured 309, prompting the General Authority for Civil Aviation to suspend operations there. After that strike, US President Donald Trump said Washington is weighing whether to step in and support operations against the Houthis.

Damage assessments and safety checks are ongoing at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said yesterday in a statement.

Strikes cast a shadow on key events: Chief executives of oil companies, including ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, and BP, have canceled their plans to attend the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh, the Financial Times reports, citing two sources in the know. The conference began yesterday and is set to run until Thursday.

Saudi Arabia hit back across Yemen, with Saudi jets launching airstrikes on Sanaa, Taiz, Amran, and Ibb, Sky News Arabia reports, citing Yemeni field sources. In Taiz, the strikes hit Houthi vehicles and gatherings in the areas of Al Hawban, Al Hijriyah, Jabal Habashi, and the Al Sayahi front, killing and wounding Houthi fighters.

The ground war in Taiz is also heating up. Clashes broke out between government forces and the Houthis in the Al Masrakh and Sabr Al Mawadim districts after the group took Najd Qasim, southwest of the city. The sources said the Houthis also advanced on the Al Sayahi front, aiming to cut the Wadi Al Dhabab road and reach Taiz’s southern entrance.

Against all odds

Saudi Arabia is making the public case for spending big on backup pipelines. At the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the Kingdom is building alternative pipelines to move oil away from congested, vulnerable sea lanes, Al Arabiya reports. New lines are costly, he said, but the cost of not having alternatives is far greater in a crisis.

It puts a doctrine behind the moves we’ve tracked. The remarks frame the logic for reported work on a pipeline to Oman’s Duqm and talk of export corridors to Europe through Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. After a year in which the war disrupted exports and knocked the East-West line offline, Riyadh is casting route redundancy as ins. worth paying for.

He also pushed back on the energy transition, warning that an overzealous drive to net zero risks the world’s energy security, and arguing the sector needs every source — oil, gas, renewables, nuclear, and geothermal.

Back for another Gulf mega-check?

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is sounding out Gulf investors to raise up to USD 100 bn for a new AI-focused acquisition fund, the Financial Times reports, citing people it says are familiar with the discussions. Son has reportedly approached potential backers in the UAE for the fund, which would acquire companies and rebuild their operations around AI, with SoftBank’s robotics arm Roze — which Son wants to take public — likely to be involved. No commitments have been announced, and the fundraising could still fall through.

REMEMBER- There’s history here: The Public Investment Fund was among the investors in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, alongside Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, which committed USD 15 bn.

What to watch out for: Whether Son can persuade Gulf investors to write another round of big checks, particularly with SoftBank already exposed to OpenAI to the tune of USD 65 bn and the ChatGPT maker’s postponing IPO, adding uncertainty to its investment plans.

The gas crunch gave Egypt every reason to speed up its energy transition, and the question now is who builds it and who pays for it.

Power Trip, our four-part signature series, turns this week to the transition and the private developers now building much of Egypt’s new power.

Issue II looks at how the deals behind these projects work, who is lending to them, and why the country is building a nuclear plant at El Dabaa alongside its solar and wind farms. We also look at whether the regional crisis has finally pushed industry toward renewables, and at the factories Egypt is counting on to build its own panels, batteries, and turbines.

Tap here to subscribe to the Egypt edition and get Power Trip delivered straight to your inbox.

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The big story abroad

US President Donald Trump has announced an immediate Russia-Ukraine “energy ceasefire,” saying that both sides have agreed to it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was still awaiting the ceasefire’s specifics. The announcement follows days of pressure from Washington on Kyiv to halt its attacks on Russian oil refineries. Moscow has not confirmed the ceasefire.

US Central Command (Centcom) forces disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman for allegedly trying to run the US naval blockade on Iran, the first such attack in more than a month. The Panama-flagged vessel attempted to cross regional waters after departing an Iranian port and was fired upon after receiving warnings, Centcom said.

E-commerce giant Amazon is negotiating an acquisition of startup Decart AI in a transaction that could be worth roughly USD 7 bn. Decart AI — whose software simplifies switching between different AI chips for developers — raised more than USD 400 mn in venture capital funds and was valued at USD 4 bn in May.