Article

2013-01-10 Arabia

[Yemen Post] Dubbed a failed state by its neighbors, Yemen is the Gulf poorest cousin, with over 40% of its population living under the poverty line, hundreds of thousands of IDPs - Internally Displaced People - and an arm per people ratio to send shivers down the spine of any good Texan. Already on the verge of economic collapse before 2011 uprising, Yemen was literally brough down to its knees by the Arab Spring movement; forced to seek solace in its allies' generosity.

With several millions of oil and gas barrels tagged for export to its name, Yemen one would think should be like its rich neighbors, laughing in the face of world recession and cashing out on its underground riches. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
decades of corruption and mis-management prevented the country from benefiting of such valuable resources.

Interestingly the former regime, led by deposed President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
and more recently the transition government in the person of former Oil Minister Hisham Sharaf went on the record, pinning Yemen's economic hues on its dwindling natural resources, warning that within a decade or so the country's wells would be all but dried out.

Several specialists have often refuted such statements, maps and reports in hand, claiming the government was only trying to hide Yemen's remarkable oil and gas resources as such a discovery could eclipse Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
as the world biggest oil exporter with an average production of 10 millions barrels per day.

Sky News - British-based television channel - reported that Yemen directly sits on the world largest oil reserve, with a pocket stretching from Yemen northern territories up to its border with Saudi Arabia and a depth approaching 1800 meters.

If indeed Yemen was to hide in its belly such untapped riches one can only speculate on what foreign powers would be willing to do to guarantee access, especially in the light of Iran's oil embargo and the West ever growing need for cheap and reliable energy.

Posted by Fred 2013-01-10 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top
File under: Arab Spring

#1 Yemen Insurgents Map:

Yemen Oil Field map:

If indeed Yemen was to hide in its belly such untapped riches one can only speculate on what foreign powers would be willing to do to guarantee access

Lets think a little here, foreign powers (?) try again, terrorist insurgents, jihadists, tribal factions like the Al-Alaqi or Al-Houthi would want in on the oil action.

Posted by Au Auric 2013-01-10 11:44|| 2013-01-10 11:44|| Front Page Top

#2 Useful, Au Auric! :-)

Posted by trailing wife 2013-01-10 14:37|| 2013-01-10 14:37|| Front Page Top

#3 The answer is easy to see with Au Auric's maps:

Export more oil, use the oil revenue to import more qat and thereby save the fresh water for drinking.

We know they won't use any for bathing.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2013-01-10 16:36|| 2013-01-10 16:36|| Front Page Top

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