The black file An investigative report reveals systematic plunder of Yemen s oil wealth

Follow-ups – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
In its new documents, “The Black File,” Al-Masirah Channel revealed a complex network of organized plunder of Yemen’s oil wealth, in which foreign companies and local officials were involved, as part of a corruption system that has extended for decades.
The documentary highlights the American company “Hunt,” which amended the agreement for Sector 18 three times following exploratory surveys, which doubled the concession area, and this was accompanied by serious manipulation of reserve and production data; the company claimed the sector was nearing depletion in 2005, while it is still producing today at record rates.
The documentary also reveals participation agreements drafted in favor of foreign companies, guaranteeing them the acquisition of more than half of the production under the name “cost oil,” alongside unjustified inflation of operational costs, all amid a lack of oversight and systematic bribery.
Gas associated with oil was not spared from neglect, treated as a by-product in the agreements, leading to its wastage in the Marib, Shabwa, and Hadramawt sectors without any actual regulation or exploitation.
The documentary presents another example in Sector 4 in Shabwa, where production dropped from 10,000 barrels per day to just 250 after the concession was transferred to an alliance of Saudi-American-Emirati companies, raising suspicions of deliberate data manipulation.
Regarding internal corruption, the documentary reveals a 1999 UAE document indicating that former President Ali Abdullah Saleh tasked the then-Minister of Oil to hand over secret sums from oil revenues, despite opposition from other figures within the regime, reflecting the involvement of the highest authority in siphoning wealth away from state institutions.
The most dangerous, according to the documentary, is the exposure of official Saudi pressure to halt exploration in Yemeni areas, using correspondence and forged maps claiming ownership over parts of Marib and Al-Jawf, which led