British oil major BP withdraws from Riyadh energy conference after airport attack

BP canceled its attendance at the World Petroleum Council Energy Congress in Riyadh, a company spokesperson said on Sunday, after a missile attack on Riyadh's international airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

The airport has been closed since the attack on Saturday. Saudi authorities reported that people were injured in another attack on the airport on Sunday.

The five-day international energy conference went ahead as scheduled on Sunday at a convention centre about 10 km (6.2 miles) from Riyadh airport, the Saudi energy ministry said.


BP CEO Meg O'Neill had appeared on previous agendas for the conference.

"We made every effort to participate in WPC. Unfortunately, due to travel disruption, we are unable to be there in person. We greatly value our longstanding partnerships across the region," a BP spokesperson said.

The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the CEOs of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Shell had been expected to attend the conference but withdrew. Shell declined to comment, while TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment made outside regular business hours.