Yemen: Acute fuel crisis in the Houthi-controlled governorates

The Yemeni Houthi group announced, on Thursday evening, that all the governorates under its control suffer from acute fuel crisis.

The Houthi-affiliated Saba News Agency stated that Ammar Al-Adrai, Executive Director of the Oil Company affiliated to the group, said that “there is an acute fuel crisis the citizens are suffering from in all governorates.”

“The company is able to provide fuel to all Yemeni regions through its branches at the lowest costs and at a unified price, provided that fuel ships are allowed to reach to the Al-Hudaydah Port permanently without objection, in addition to the United Nations performing its basic duty,” Al-Adrai, added that without further details.

According to the Houthi-controlled Yemeni Oil Company, the Arab coalition is withholding six oil ships and preventing them from entering Al-Hudaydah Governorate.

The Arab coalition had previously stressed its keenness on the flow of basic commodities through Al-Hudaydah Port, accusing the Houthis of “trading with the humanitarian situation.”

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In a related context, local residents in the capital, Sana’a, which is controlled by Houthis, reported that the overcrowded city has been suffering from a severe fuel crisis for days.

The residents stated to Anadolu Agency that the crisis led to the sale of oil derivatives on the black market at more than double of the official price, while many vehicle drivers stopped their work due to the emergency crisis.

Yemen has been witnessing an ongoing war for more than 7 years, between the pro-government forces backed by an Arab military alliance led by the neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sana’a, since September 2014.

Until the end of 2021, the war in Yemen had killed 377,000 directly and indirectly, according to the United Nations.

The war has led to a loss in the country’s economy estimated to $126 billion, in one of the world’s worst humanitarian and economic crises, where most of the 30-million population depends on assistance.