Yemen warns foreign companies against “plundering energy resources”

Ahmed Dares called on multinational oil and gas companies to enter into negotiations with the Sana’a government before taking any actions to explore and extract crude oil and natural gas in Yemen, and cautioned of adverse consequences in case the warning is not taken into serious consideration.

“Sana’a will not remain idle in the face of any escalation of tensions by the Saudi-led coalition of aggression in the economic field,” the Yemeni oil minister noted.

In late October, Yemen’s National Salvation Government issued a warning after targeting a cargo ship off an oil terminal in the war-wrecked country’s south to prevent Saudi-backed forces from using it for oil exports.

In a statement, Yemen’s Foreign Ministry also denounced the UN Security Council’s reaction to the “warning strike” at the al-Dubba terminal, where a Greek oil tanker was docked to load oil. The statement came after the council denounced the strike as a serious threat to the peace process and stability of Yemen.

The ministry stressed that Yemen will not hesitate to defend national sovereignty, and safeguard public interests and wealth against any act of looting or abuse.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.