Amid a deadly strike by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, chief executive officers of global energy companies have boycotted a major international oil conference held in the country.

Following the large number of casualties caused by the airport attack, the suspension of operations at Riyadh International Airport has been indefinitely extended.

According to Reuters and other foreign media on the 12th (local time, October 12), schedule lists released by the organizers of the World Petroleum Congress (WPC Energy Congress), which opened in Riyadh the previous day, showed that the CEOs of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron, and BP were largely excluded from the speaker lineup.

CEOs of major global energy companies are key figures who typically attend the WPC to speak on topics such as the crude oil and gas markets, energy security, and energy transition.

This incident has also dealt a significant blow to Saudi Arabia's national project, Vision 2030, which aims to reduce reliance on oil, modernize society, and leap forward as a hub for investment and tourism.

Hosting large-scale international events is a core task of this program, but schedules have been repeatedly disrupted due to regional conflicts.

This year's WPC conference was originally scheduled for April, but was postponed once after a war broke out between the U.S., Israel, and Iran in late February.

This is the first time the WPC has been held in Saudi Arabia since the inaugural conference was held in 1933.

Regarding the conference absence, a BP spokesperson stated, "Every effort was made to attend, but unfortunately travel disruptions made it impossible to attend in person."

Shell declined to comment, while TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and Chevron did not immediately respond to media inquiries.

The Riyadh Conference Center, where this conference is being held, is located only about 10 kilometers away from Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, which has been attacked four times within the past week.

According to Saudi authorities, a new strike targeting the airport on the evening of the 11th left 1 person dead and around 10 others injured.

This additional human toll occurred just a day after a Houthi rebel attack on the 10th killed 13 people and injured over 300, resulting in the worst casualties in Saudi Arabia in about a decade.

As consecutive attacks targeting the airport continue, disruptions to flights are expected to be prolonged.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia announced that it is extending the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport following the deadly Houthi attacks "to complete necessary procedures to verify the safety and operational readiness of the facilities."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)