Oil is vital to Yemen development, and our current production is around 280,000 bbl/d provides the primary source of income. Yemen contained oil in place of 10.9 billion barrels and had produced 2.7 Billion barrels in 2011.
With natural gas reserves of 18.2 trillion cubic feet, Yemen has considerable potential as a natural gas producer and exporter. The bulk of Yemen’s gas reserves are concentrated in the Marib-Jawf fields. Yemen currently has a crude refining capacity of 120,000 bbl/d from two local refineries. The refinery in Aden operated by Aden Refinery Company with a capacity of 110,000 bbl/d, while the other refinery at Marib operated by Yemen Refinery Company with a capacity of 10,000 bbl/d. However, the Ministry of Oil and Minerals (MOM) is trying to upgrade the current capacity and build a new refinery at, Hadhramot.
By May 1990, six foreign oil companies were operating in Yemen. Following the reunification of Yemen on 22 May 1990, Yemen has become more attractive to many international oil companies seeking access to oil-rich concession areas, particularly in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country. This ultimately led the MOM to study and evaluate those areas more fully and to divide them into separate concessionaire blocks.
The MOM received more than 86 proposals from different oil companies during the first three years, after an extensive review of these offers, the MOM. Signed about 88 PSAs (1990-2009). The MOM continued to focus on exploration for additional reserves by offering more attractive contract terms to international oil companies. As a result, 60 new PSAs have been signed and ratified during the years 1997 until mid-2004 plus many MOUs with other companies. Finally, the MOM conferred the International Oil Companies an opportunity to become a significant producer of oil and gas for the worldwide market, since most of Yemen yet to be explored and still much room for more exploration.
