All 14 people aboard a helicopter owned by Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, died when the aircraft went down in Saudi Arabia early Sunday morning, according to the Saudi Ministry of Energy.
The crash took place at approximately 6 a.m. in Ras Tanura. Officials confirmed that every person killed was a Saudi national. Authorities have opened a formal investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
The helicopter was the property of Aramco, a company that is majority-owned by the Saudi Arabian government.
The crash comes at an already challenging time for Aramco. The company has been navigating disruptions caused by the Iran war, which has affected oil supplies and pushed prices higher. Aramco has stated that it managed to redirect some of its oil exports through a pipeline in order to work around the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that has seen disruptions as Iran has moved to assert control over it.
