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Saudi-led coalition has plundered $1bln worth of Yemeni oil since start of UN truce
Riyadh also committed a new violation of the truce agreement one day after its extension, confiscating a UN-authorized fuel ship headed for the port of Hodeidah
By News Desk - August 04 2022
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Yemen’s port of Hodeidah. (Photo credit: AFP)

The Saudi-led coalition has been accused of plundering $919.6 million worth of Yemen’s crude oil and natural gas revenues in the period between 2 April and 2 August.

According to the figures published by Saba News Agency, the lost revenues could have covered the salaries of all public workers for seven months.

The report highlights that the amount of looted crude oil amounted to 8.3 million barrels, with a total value of $801 million. It is also estimated that the US-backed coalition plundered 232.5 thousand tons of natural gas, worth well over $100 million.

These numbers reflect the amount stolen since the start of a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement between the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement.

On 3 August, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced a two-month extension of this agreement.

However, just a day later, the Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) reported that the Saudi navy seized a UN-authorized oil tanker headed for the port of Hodeidah.

The YPC spokesman, Issam al-Mutawakil, condemned this new violation of the truce so soon after its last extension. He also recalled the commitment made by the UN envoy to fulfill the terms of the agreement and ensure the regular flow of fuel to the port of Hodeidah.

Saudi Arabia and its regional allies – with the support of NATO –  launched a brutal war on the Arab world’s poorest country in 2015. With the help of Takifiri armed groups, Saudi and Emirati troops have occupied most of Yemen’s resource-rich southern and eastern regions.

The war and occupation have created what the UN describes as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. An air and sea blockade imposed by Riyadh has also pushed most Yemenis to the brink of famine.

Ansarallah officials have also cautioned that the US is increasing its military presence in Yemen, with the alleged goal of controlling the country’s vast oilfields, like they do in Syria.

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