Exxon Mobil and Chevron pull executives from the UAE's ADIPEC oil conference over security
Two sources say both companies cancelled travel plans for next week's event in the UAE.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron have cancelled plans to send executives to ADIPEC, the UAE oil conference next week, citing security concerns, according to two sources.
The decision follows a run of incidents tied to the UAE. Prosecutors say the co-pilot of a flydubai flight attacked the captain with a crash axe and tried to seize the plane before it landed in Saudi Arabia. The UAE called it a planned terrorist act. The UAE's Civil Aviation Authority has also suspended flights by Iranian airlines to and from the country, and most of Iran's external flights remain grounded. A US travel advisory cites the risk of Houthi aggression across the Gulf.
The region is also dealing with an attack campaign, and Washington and Tehran have given conflicting accounts of it.
Oil flows and prices have not moved in step with that. Saudi Arabia's October exports nearly matched September's, and the Gulf premium on crude has fallen from $34 to about $6 a barrel.
That makes the cancellations a security call by each company, not a sign of supply trouble. It does suggest the big operators see Gulf threats as lasting rather than one-off, even as the market prices in less risk.
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