Yemeni plan to resume oil exports triggers new tensions

A decision by Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi to resume Yemeni oil exports has triggered new tensions in the country’s resource-rich east, particularly in the governorates of Hadramut and Shabwa.

The move has further complicated and deepened existing disputes while prompting intervention from outside the two governorates, led by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), headed by Aidrous al-Zubaidi, as part of its escalating campaign against the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Hadramut and Shabwa witnessed, in recent days, significant political, social, and tribal mobilisation and heightened security and military friction in both governorates.

Some voices have called for safeguarding the rights of residents to benefit from natural resources and directing revenues towards developing their areas.

Others argue that exports should not resume so the internationally recognised government cannot benefit from them or from what they describe as revenue sharing with the Houthi group under the UN roadmap.

In Hadramut, the Hadramut Tribes Alliance is leading a popular campaign to pressure local authorities and the internationally recognised government.

The alliance has adopted a position opposed to the resumption of what it describes as “Hadrami oil exports” until the rights of the governorate’s residents are guaranteed, a percentage of Yemeni oil sales is regularly allocated to them, and certain privileges are granted to Hadramut residents, particularly in employment and senior positions within oil companies and elsewhere.

The alliance, together with the Hadramut Inclusive Conference, regarded as its political wing, is preparing to hold a major meeting attended by its political, tribal, military and security leaders today, Monday, 3 August.

The gathering will take place in the Hadaba area, the alliance’s stronghold and the base of its leader, Sheikh Amr bin Habrish.

A senior source in the alliance told The New Arab that the meeting’s top agenda item would be a demand for the Saudi government to facilitate the return of Hadramut Inclusive Conference president and Hadramut Tribes Alliance leader Sheikh Amr bin Habrish to Hadramut.

The meeting will also call on local authorities and the internationally recognised government to fulfil their commitments and promises, whether to the alliance and its leadership or to the people of Hadramut.

The source said participants would also reaffirm the determination of Hadramut residents to defend their rights and interests by adopting a pressure programme if their demands are not met and authorities fail to respond.

Competing interests

Meanwhile, a source within the Hadramut local authority leadership told TNA that the resumption of Yemeni oil exports “has whetted the appetite of many parties, whether within political parties and political and social groups or among Hadrami groups and officials who previously benefited from guarding Yemeni oil fields, protecting company facilities or securing transport operations.”

The source added that “there are networks that previously smuggled Hadramut oil and are now trying to return to the governorate under different names by creating tension and spreading disorder under the cover of certain political parties and groups.”

For that reason, according to the source, “pressure is being exerted on the local authority in Hadramut and on the government at the same time to push through certain deals and gains.”

Regarding the Hadramut Tribes Alliance campaign, the source said the alliance “had received promises from the government and the Saudi-led coalition since the Hadramut events, and it appears that some of these promises have not been fulfilled, although the integration and incorporation of the alliance’s forces took place during recent months.”

“Therefore, the alliance is pressing for the remaining promises to be implemented,” the source added.

The source also said that “the issue of Hadramut’s share of revenues from the resumption of oil exports has been fixed at 20%, and the local authority leadership remains committed to it.”

The source argued that “attempts by some parties to exploit this issue do not serve Hadramut or its people but instead serve chaos and the efforts of some to spread it in Hadramut, foremost among them the Houthis and the STC.”

Tribal mobilisation in Shabwa

Shabwa has also witnessed tribal mobilisation, which sources say is backed by the Southern Transitional Council through the Shabwa Tribes Alliance, established during the STC’s administration before it was dissolved.

The alliance is demanding that the government allocate 50% of revenues from oil and gas extracted in Shabwa to the governorate’s residents.

Strategic and international relations researcher Saddam Obeid told TNA that the developments reflect a power-sharing system that has entrenched unhealthy political traditions and thinking, leading many to seek quotas even in natural resources or to exploit the issue for political and economic gains at the expense of the state-building project and the country.

He pointed out that “for this reason, such impulses and ambitions emerge among some parties. Some factors and developments may be reflected in what is happening, such as serious preparations for a major military operation against the Houthis with international cooperation.”

Obeid added that “it is natural for efforts to resume oil exports to generate this level of tension, which may be driven by local or even regional parties”.

“The Houthis and others may also have a role, because today everyone is playing against everyone else in an open conflict, using every available card each side possesses,” he said.

The developments come as the dissolved Southern Transitional Council continues to escalate protests against the internationally recognised government, Saudi Arabia, and the resumption of oil exports.

The group has focused its demonstrations daily on Hadramut and Shabwa, extending to Al-Mahra, claiming in its statements that the resumption of Yemeni oil exports forms part of the roadmap, which it alleges benefits the Houthis at the expense of “the people of the south”.

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.