Four days after Yemeni tribesmen permitted the government to repair the crucial Maarib oil export pipeline linking the country’s oilfield, the government has released statement claiming that the pipeline has been repaired and is now pumping oil.
The Yemen embassy in Washington is reported by Reuters as saying that crude began to flow to Aden on Friday night. The pipeline had been out of action since it was sabotaged by disgruntled rural tribes in March.
“This will hopefully ease the economic crisis the nation is currently facing,” the embassy statement added.
The Yemeni government had previously threatened military action to access Maarib for repair if tribesmen did not surrender the pipeline.
The country’s economy is heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, which account for 25% of GDP, over 70% of government revenues, and over 90% of foreign exchange earnings.
In a separate Reuters report, the UAE government is to donate 3 million barrels of crude for refining at Aden, according to Yemeni Deputy Information Minister Abdo al-Janadi. Saudi Arabia last month donated 3 million barrels of crude for refining at Aden.
The political crisis in Yemen continues today, with rallies of anti govenment protestors – reported by the Associated Press to number in the hundreds of thousands – clashing with Saleh supporters on the anniversary of Saleh’s accession to power.
