Page 8 - MEOG Week 24

MEOG P er F orman C e MEOG

Yemen aims to raise oil

output by 25% within months

yemen YEMEN aims to raise its crude oil production Information Administration (EIA) estimates it
by 25% to 75,000 barrels per day in the coming has proven oil reserves of around 3 billion bar-
months, the energy minister of the country’s rels. It has two primary crude oil streams, with
internationally-recognised government said, light and sweet Marib and medium-gravity and
according to Reuters. more sulphur-rich Masila.
Saudi-backed Abd-Rabbu Mansour hadi’s It is also working to build more pipelines and
government controls the eastern and south- raise the limited storage capacity at Nashima
ern areas where Yemen’s oil-and-gas fields are port, which stands at 600,000 barrels compared
located, while the Iranian-aligned houthi group to 3 million barrels in houthi- controlled Ras
controls the capital Sanaa and the oil terminal of Issa port, Awd said.
Ras Issa on the Red Sea. The minister also said he hoped that Yemen
“The oil ministry has put forward a plan to would resume production and exports of lique-
re-export crude oil from all oil fields in Marib fied natural gas (LNG) from the Balhaf facility
and Shabwa … and we have succeeded in reha- by next year, assuming improved security and a
bilitating al-Nashama oil port on the Arabian speedy recovery of global energy markets.
Sea,” hadi’s government energy minister Aws The plant, which was operated by France’s
Abdullah al-Awd told Reuters in an interview. Total, declared force majeure in 2015 due to
The civil war has choked its energy output, worsening security.
shuttered its Aden refinery and damaged its The oil industry is vital to Yemen’s finances,
infrastructure, Awd said, raising questions about contributing some 63% of government revenues
Yemen’s ability to increase its crude production before the fighting broke out, according to the
and rehabilitate the sector anytime soon. International Monetary Fund, and will play a
Yemen’s oil output has collapsed since 2015 central role in rebuilding the Middle East’s poor-
when the Saudi-led military coalition intervened est country, should peace one day return.
in a war to try to restore hadi’s government to Its crude output has increased some 40%
power after it was ousted by the houthis. in the last year, averaging around 55,000 bpd,
Yemen produced around 127,000 bpd – according to S&P Global Platts Analytics; were
down from a peak of around 450,000 bpd in it to meet its new target this would be a modest
2001 - before the conflict and the US Energy but significant increase.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 17•June•2020