Page 10 - MEOG Week 09

MEOG POLICY MEOG

Houthi demands cause

further delays to Safer repairs

YEMEN THE United Nations (UN) this week said that […] One can only imagine the devastating
a new list of demands from Yemen’s Houthis ecological impact [a leak] it would have on the
are stifling efforts to assess the condition of the region and on countries surrounding Yemen
dilapidated Safer floating storage and offloading (and) bordering the Red Sea, whose population
vessel, which remains anchored offshore the rely on the Red Sea for fishing and for tourism.”
country. Meanwhile, the Houthis have insisted that the
The vessel is moored near the Red Sea port Saudi coalition should be held accountable for
of Ras Isa, north of Hodeidah, and is thought to any leaks.
still have a cargo of more than 1mn barrels of oil The vessel has a total storage capacity of 3mn
onboard. barrels in 34 tanks, and was previously used to
“Unfortunately, we have encountered some store and export oil produced in the central oil
new delays after recent additional requests from fields of Marib.
the Houthis,” said UN chief spokesman Stephane
Dujarric. “Those additional requests focused on Threats
logistics and security arrangements,” he added. The Houthis this week threatened to further
Dujarric said that the UN understands “that “strikes” on facilities belonging to Saudi Arabian
many member states, including donors to the NOC Aramco if the Kingdom or the UAE were
project, are extremely concerned by these new to commit acts of “aggression” on the Safer oil-
delays. We, of course, share those concerns”. fields, which are located to the east of Marib city.
Meanwhile, he noted that the team is “working Iran’s Fars News quoted Houthi represent-
as diligently as possible on a field where some- atives as saying: “The most important message
times the goalposts seem to shift.” is to warn the Saudi regime not to think of
In July 2019, UN officials were prevented attacking Ma’rib oil structures … Therefore, if
from visiting Safer to assess the scale of the dam- the [Safer] oil sectors are targeted by Saudi or
age amid fears that gas build-up in storage tanks Riyadh-based fighter jets, the Sana’a forces will
could lead to an explosion. also use UAVs and missiles will bomb Saudi oil
A solution is yet to be found that will lead to structures in a large-scale operation.”
the safe unloading of the cargo, with the Houthis The spokesperson also warned of an attack
demanding guarantees that they will be entitled similar to that carried out in September 2019 at
to the oil, which is worth around $64mn at cur- Abqaiq and Khurais facilities in Eastern Prov-
rent crude prices. ince which led to a 5.7mn barrel per day reduc-
Of the mood among the negotiators, Dujar- tion in oil flows.
ric said: “I think ‘increased worry’ is the right Apparently under constant threat from the
expression. We’ve been talking about this for south and the north, Aramco has invested heav-
two years now.” ily in defence with US Patriot missile systems
While there have so far been no leaks, the in place near major facilities as well as having
UN representative noted that this is only “by the contracts in place with several major US-based
grace of God”. Dujarric added: “The more we defence firms for protection against drones and
wait, the chances of a major leak are increasing other projectiles.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 03•March•2021