IMF warns attacks on Saudi Arabia could hurt global economy after strike on Aramco headquarters

NEW: IMF warns attacks on Saudi Arabia could hit the global economy after a strike on Aramco's headquarters, with flights suspended and oil prices rising.

The IMF is warning that attacks on Saudi Arabia could hit the entire global economy.

This follows a strike on the headquarters of Aramco, the Saudi state oil giant and the single most important company in world energy. Flights in the kingdom have been suspended, and oil prices are already climbing.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva delivered the warning from Bangkok, and she wasn't being abstract. Saudi Arabia pumps a huge share of the world's crude, and much of it moves through ports and terminals like these, infrastructure that suddenly looks exposed.

If exports from the kingdom are disrupted for any length of time, that feeds straight into fuel costs, shipping costs and inflation everywhere, from Europe to Asia. Central banks that thought they were done fighting price rises would be dragged right back in.

For now, the markets are pricing nerves, not catastrophe. But the nerve centre of the world's oil supply just took a direct hit, and everyone's balance sheet felt it.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.