The Yemeni war has caused stifling energy crises despite the oil and gas wealth (AFP)
repercussions Russian war In Ukraine on the global energy sector, a file Oil and liquefied gas In Yemen, it came to the fore, following several indications of American and European interest in reviving the country’s exports, which had been suspended for nearly eight years due to conflicts.
The war in Yemen has halted the export of oil and liquefied gas, which is considered the backbone of the economy, and sparked successive economic and living crises that led to the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the classification of the United Nations.
According to well-informed sources, who preferred not to reveal their names, who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Yemeni government authorities received messages and signals regarding a week ago from European and American officials, companies and economic and trade bodies, trying to help them speed up the resolution of the oil and gas export file, which it is working on. The Yemeni government has been in earnest since the end of 2021.
According to the sources, there is great interest from the government in Western messages related to the oil file, given the government’s need for financial resources, given the economic crisis it is going through, in addition to its need to provide a reserve of dollars in the central bank and activate the procedures for preparing a general budget for the state, which is facing great difficulty in completing it. So far due to the financial crises it is facing.
In turn, Wajeeh Al-Salahi, an expert at the National Center for Petroleum Studies and Research, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Yemeni government takes the issue of reviving oil and gas exports seriously, without looking at the current international policy tracks, the polarization and conflicts that resulted from the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the reluctance of countries to Influential in the global energy market for raising its oil production to cover the deficit experienced by international markets following strict Western sanctions once morest Russia, including Washington’s embargo on Russian oil.
Al-Salahi added, “Yemen is in a severe crisis and is experiencing the consequences of a war that has ravaged all aspects of the economy, and therefore it is important to help the country rehabilitate its oil and gas facilities, return to international markets to export oil and liquefied gas, and attract new companies to carry out oil exploration and develop some faltering fields.”
Yemen seeks to raise crude oil production to regarding 150 thousand barrels per day in the event of re-exports, compared to 70 thousand barrels per day currently, according to government estimates.
However, Abdul Wahed Al-Aubali, an economic researcher for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, said that “the government’s failed performance and rampant corruption would end any hopes that Yemen would benefit from any increase in oil production and the currently recorded jumps in prices.”
Al-Awaili added that “Yemen exports a barrel of regarding $100 and then returns to import it with regarding $300 in the form of oil derivatives, due to the deliberate disruption of the Aden (south) refineries for the benefit of oil derivatives importers who reap billions from this unjust trade for the Yemeni people who live in an oil country. However, oil is imported, which leads to the depletion of billions of hard currency and the collapse of the Yemeni riyal and the economy in general.
In this context, the tour that the US special envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, and the acting US ambassador to Yemen, Kathy Westley, paid to Yemen earlier this March, raised several inquiries regarding the purpose of this visit and at this particular time, especially as it is It was concentrated in three oil governorates: Hadramawt (east), Shabwa and Al-Mahra (south).
Following the visit, the US State Department said in a statement that the tour provided an opportunity to discuss the needs in these governorates and efforts to enhance basic services and economic opportunities in light of the continuing challenges posed by terrorism and smuggling, which fuel instability.
Faisal Al-Nahari, the Yemeni economic researcher, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the aim of the visit is to review the latest equipment and preparations under way to re-export Yemeni oil from some sectors and fields, and to know the size of the stock available for export and the possibility of benefiting from exportable quotas, pointing out that this visit It coincided with US moves towards some oil countries such as Venezuela and Iran.
There are regarding 35 oil fields in the Hadhramaut and Shabwa governorates, the most important of which is Al-Masila in Hadramout, while the total number of fields in the concession areas in Yemen is regarding 105 fields, including 13 fields subject to exploratory work, 12 producing fields, and regarding 81 fields, open sectors for exploration and exploration.
In the last meeting held by the Board of Directors of the Yemen LNG Company last December with major international companies investing in the Yemeni LNG project, re-export and expansion of investment in the largest projects were discussed.
Abdul Rahman Al-Bahri, an energy expert, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the task of reviving production and exporting might be easier in Shabwa, where oil projects are invested and managed by American and European companies, in addition to the liquefied gas sector managed by the French company Total.
But the most important thing from Bahri’s point of view is the Yemeni government’s reconsideration of some contracts concluded with foreign companies, especially those that date back to the pre-war periods and extending for many years, especially the liquefied natural gas project whose contract with the French company extends to 2036, as well as reconsidering In the prices in the concluded agreements.
Economic reports estimate gas reserves in Yemen at regarding one trillion cubic feet, while experts call for the need to review the pricing mechanism for exports, noting that keeping the situation as it was in the past will lead to outrageous profits for foreign companies, while Yemen will incur huge losses, resulting from differences Prices are cheating on their share of the profits.
While global gas prices have exceeded the barrier of $60 per million thermal units (the gas measurement unit), the prices set in the agreement concluded on the liquefied gas project in Yemen with France’s Total range between $2.5 and 3.5 per million thermal units, while the Yemeni government’s share of the Profits, according to the profit shares equation contained in the agreement, amounted to only $5.2 billion, during the project period of up to 20 years.