Folks The following article was published a few days ago by a...

Folks

The following article was published a few days ago by a Yemeni national ... It appears that the Yemen Government needs a major overhaul in it's oil administration ... The article suggests that the oil minister is directly affiliated in corrupt practises ...


https://medium.com/@samwrax/how-a-handful-of-elites-are-plundering-the-oil-wealth-of-the-nation-7a1114e4cc48





How a Handful of Elites are Plundering the OilWealth of the Nation.

Summer Ahmed

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Dec 25 ·4 min read

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Yemen Oil Ministryrepresentatives meeting foreign investors in Cairo Egypt.

According to a reportpublished by Reuters in July, Yemen’s internationally recognized government has calledon oil companies to restart production and exploration in the country.

Foreign companies have headedthe call, and multiple meetings have taken place in Cairo Egypt, betweenforeign oil companies and the Yemeni oil and gas ministry. However, cripplingcorruption is turning investment opportunities for the nation into ‘lootingopportunity’ for the oil minister and a handful of predatory elites, sellingoil blocks and contracts to who pays the top commission to them, rather than towhich company will generate more income for the nation.

Corruption is a seriousproblem in every branch and level of government in Yemen, however, the oilsector, which generates the most income for the state, is the most corrupt, inwhich government officials benefit from insider arrangements, embezzlement, andbribes.

Currently the Oil Minister,Aws Abdullah al-Oud heads a team of corrupt people specializing in plunderingthe country’s wealth and capabilities under various headings, to makecommission off selling shady oil contracts.

For the past couple of months,al-Oud and his team, which include the General Manager of the Yemen InvestmentsCompany for Oil and Minerals (YICOM), Abdullah Nasser Omair, with his deputyfor technical affairs, Adel Sharef Al-Hamadi, in addition to the rising star inthe business of oil corruption, Deputy Director General for Financial andAdministrative Affairs named Hani Saleh Al-Ashalah, are busy promoting oilsector 4 which is located in Shabwah South Yemen.

Sources from inside the oilministry said that the promotion of Sector 4 is a scheme to sell the nationsresources for personal financial gains, depriving the citizens any benefit fromthese resources. They broker these deals privately with willing foreignpartners, stabbing the national economy in the back without the slightest fearor intent to advance the national economy in the process.

The source explained thatthese days, in Cairo Egypt, the Yemeni oil minister and his partners are in theprocess of promoting Sector 4 in order to mortgage and sell it for a period oftime to a foreign company that commissioned them, even though, sector 4 isfully operational and generating revenue and there is no need to bring in aforeign partner.

In addition, sector 4 has beentransporting crude oil from OMV since March 2018 and started transporting oilfrom SAFER in Marib in mid-October 2019. The source also added, that it isestimated the sector will be transporting 50,000 barrels of crude oil per dayand the quantity will increase gradually over the coming months to 80,000 barrels per day,which will generate hundreds of millions of dollars that will go to a smallgroup of elite government officials and not benefit the state.

Sector 4 is not the only oilblock the oil minister and his team have been manipulating for personal gains.Currently a pipeline is being built from Block 5 (Jannah) to Block 4. Thepurpose of the pipeline is to transport SAFER oil outside the country, to sellin the international market and hide the money.

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Photo of pipeline being builtfrom Jannah Block 5 oil sector to Block 4 in Shabwah South Yemen.

Block 5 is owned by theChinese United Energy Group Limited, which it acquired from Kuwait Energy.Previously this Block was owned by the American Hunt Oil Company. Many oilcontracts are being awarded to the Chinese, including for oil exploration andproduction equipment.

Also Block S-1 which wasacquired by PetSec Energy in 2016 is currently at the center of a corruptionscheme by Oil Minister al-Oud and The General Manager of YICOM Abdullah Omair.We received copies of letters sent by PetSec to the oil minister, asking forconsent to start production at S-1 and transportation permission through Sector4 which is operated by YICOM. We were informed by a source in the ministry thatpermission has not been granted to PetSec because PetSec refused to pay thecommission amount requested by Minister al-Oud, and also refused a proposal byal-Oud to have one of his family members as a local partner with Petsec.

The Source also explained thatthe oil minister wants PetroMasila which operates in Hadhramout, about 400kmfrom Block S-1 to be the exporter, instead of YICOM which operates in Shabwahand not very far from S-1. This scheme is a way to make more money on transportfor the oil minister and his friend’s transportation company which will carrythe crude from S-1 to the PetroMasila facility.

While the world, includingPresident Hadi himself is distracted by the war in Yemen, these predatoryelites run corrupt operations — selling the wealth and capabilities of thenation for personal profit — without fear of reprisal, because they know Yemenhas a very weak bought and paid for justice system.

This article opens the discussion as to who is controlling our restart