EXCLUSIVE-Exxon CEO says non-essential employees in Middle East have been evacuated

By Sheila Dang

HOUSTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil XOM.N has evacuated non-essential employees from its operations in the Middle East, CEO Darren Woods said in an interview on Tuesday, as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran continues.

Some operations have been scaled back to manage inventory levels as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been challenged, he said. Exxon is a minority partner in oil projects in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

"Our first and highest priority is making sure our people remain safe, and we evacuated folks who weren't critical or essential to the operations that we were providing support for," Woods said.

The Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway that handles one-fifth of the world's oil supply, has been strained as Iran has threatened to attack tankers that navigate through it. U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to escalate the war with Iran if it blocked oil shipments from the Middle East, even as he predicted a quick end to the conflict.