Who is looting Yemen s oil and where does it all go

There is a hidden war being waged against Yemen, a multinational assault against the country’s vital natural resources. For years, foreign states and companies have engaged in the illicit plundering of Yemen’s oil and gas – war profiteering in the poorest nation in West Asia.
By Karim Shami June 03, 2023

The US-backed and Saudi-led war in Yemen has not only created a severe countrywide humanitarian crisis but has also spawned external competition over the looting of Yemen’s natural resources, particularly oil and gas. Yemen’s strategic location and its many ports make it an ideal hub for transporting stolen resources quickly and efficiently.

While the eight-year conflict has somewhat subsided due to between Riyadh and Sanaa, the exploitation of these resources continues unabated, with different Yemeni authorities and external states vying for control.

Three active oil and gas fields are currently under the authority of foreign aggressors who lead the war coalition in Yemen. Marib, a resource-rich region, produces both oil and gas and is controlled by the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government. The southern province of Shabwa, with its oil wells and pipeline, is under the control of the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The southern province of Hadhramaut, also known for its oil reserves, is technically governed by the internationally recognized government, while its ports are under the authority of the STC. The latter has since stepped up its separatist ambitions setting its sights on the resource-rich province, in a likely to cause a conflict of interests and proxies with coalition partner Saudi Arabia.

The forced closure of pipelines that connect Ansarallah-controlled areas to other provinces has cut off Sanaa’s access to oil and gas resources, resulting in immense suffering for the majority of Yemeni citizens, as most of them reside in these areas.

In March 2015, the war