The Minister of Oil and Minerals in the Sanaa government Ahmad Daris (Archive)

The Minister of Oil and Minerals in the Sanaa government, Ahmad Daris, revealed, on Saturday, that he had learned from sources about vigorous efforts by the US-backed and Saudi-led coalition of aggression and their mercenaries to restart the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project with the approach of winter.

Dares stressed that the Sanaa government "will not allow the LNG project to be restarted unless its return is in the interest of all the Yemeni people," condemning "the looting of this national wealth while the Yemeni people suffer from the interruption of salaries."

The Minister added that "had these looted revenues were provided to Yemeni banks, it would have been possible to disburse the salaries of employees in all of Yemen."

Dares pointed out that "crude oil products are smuggled and exported through several ports, namely Bir Ali, Nishtun, Al-Daba and Qena," calling for "handing over the management of the oil, gas and mineral sectors to the Sanaa government," adding that, "We are committed before everyone to pay the salaries of all Yemenis."

He further noted that "the government of the mercenaries of aggression has reduced the allocations of the liberated areas of gas," warning all oil companies operating in Yemen and calling on them to abide by the agreements involved in production.

He also stressed that "the Sanaa government monitors around the clock all the movements of the aggression coalition and their mercenaries in the oil sectors and will take the appropriate and necessary measures to preserve the rights of the Yemeni people."

The Minister of Oil and Minerals called on "the United Nations to quickly fulfill its obligations regarding the FSO Safer vessel to avoid any catastrophic environmental repercussions in the Red Sea," indicating that "despite the existing truce, the coalition of aggression is still holding nine fuel ships until this moment, again, demanding their release and the implementation the terms of this alleged truce."

130 million barrels of oil were looted from Yemen

As for the volume of oil looted since 2018, the Minister of Oil and Minerals in the Sana’a government Ahmad Dares said that "The volume of looted crude oil during the period from 2018 to July of this year is estimated at 130 million barrels," adding that "the total value of looted oil revenues from 2018 to July amounts to $9.5 billion dollars."

He went on to highlight that “During the year 2019, more than 29,600 barrels of crude oil were produced, with an estimated value of $2.3 billion. As for the year 2020, more than 31,600,000 barrels were produced, with an estimated value of $2.4 billion," adding that "In the year 2021, 31,500,000 barrels of crude were produced, worth $2.142 billion, and from January to July this year, more than 19,141 thousand barrels were produced, with an estimated value of more than $1.722 billion dollars."

Looted Yemeni oil (Al Mayadeen English)

Regarding gas production, Dares says that the FSO Safer produces 83 home gas trailers per day, with a total of 2,490 per month. The total amount of gas, per month, gets transferred into 5.4 million gas cylinders whose revenues are valued at 12.7 billion riyals per month.

The minister further indicated that in February of this year, FSO Safer increased the price of gas cylinders to 3,567 riyals per cylinder, bringing its revenues to 19.1 billion riyals per month.

A few days ago, a source in the Yemeni Ministry of Oil and Minerals in the Sanaa government, told Al Mayadeen, "an oil tanker approached the Al-Nashima port in Shabwa governorate, in order to loot huge quantities of Yemeni crude oil."

Furthermore, the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, said earlier that "All oil and gas revenues are now looted by the coalition of aggression, thieves, and occupiers, while traitors are eating part of it."

The head of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mahdi Al-Mashat, condemned "the coalition mercenaries' looting of the Yemeni people's wealth and depositing its sum in the National Bank of Saudi Arabia."