Yemen aims to increase oil production 25% in the coming months

The Saudi-backed government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi controls the eastern and southern regions of Yemen, where the oil and gas fields are located, while the Houthi group allied with Iran controls the capital, Sanaa, and the Ras Easa oil port on the Red Sea.
“We have developed alternative options for re-exporting crude oil from all oil fields, especially Marib crude oil and Shabwa crude oil … Indeed, the ministry has succeeded in rehabilitating the Al-Nashaima oil port located on the Arabian Sea,” Aws Abdullah al-Oud, Minister of Oil in the Hadi government, said in an interview with Reuters.
Al-Oud added that the war led to the stoppage of energy production, the closure of the Aden refinery, and damage to infrastructure, which raises questions about Yemen’s ability to increase its crude production and reform the sector soon.
Yemen’s oil production has collapsed since 2015 when a Saudi-led military alliance entered the war to try to return the Hadi government to power after the Houthis ousted it.
Yemen was producing about 127 thousand barrels per day before the conflict, and the US Energy Information Administration estimates that it had proven oil reserves of about three billion barrels. It has two main types of crude oil, namely, Ma’rib Light crude and medium liquefied crude and rich in sulfur.
Al-Oud said that his country is also working to build more pipelines and increase the limited storage capacity at the port of Al-Nushima, which amounts to 600 thousand barrels, compared to three million barrels in the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa.
The minister added that he hoped that Yemen would resume production and export of liquefied natural gas from the Balhaf facility by next year, assuming that the security situation improves and global energy markets recover quickly.
The facility, which was operated by France’s Total, declared the force majeure in 2015 due to the deteriorating security situation.