Yemen's Masila oilfields pumping again after kidnap protest
SANAA
SHARE
Work resumes at Masila oilfield
Work at Yemen's Masila oilfields in the eastern Hadramout province has resumed, a labour union official said, two days after oil companies suspended operations in protest at the kidnapping of a presidential aide by Shi'ite fighters.
Oil companies in Hadramout and in the southern Shabwa province, home to the main gas export facility at Belhaf, halted work in an apparent agreement with local tribes, who were angered by the kidnapping.
The Shi'ite Houthis seized President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi's chief of staff, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, a native of the southern Shabwa province in a dispute over a proposed new constitution that threatens to bring down the government.
A Houthi official told Reuters on Thursday bin Mubarak could be released in the next three days if the authorities committed to fully implementing a power-sharing agreement signed in September.
Yemen small oil output is dwindling and stood at around 130,000 barrels per day last year according to US government data. The southeast Masila Basin holds more than 80 per cent of the country's total reserves.
Total is the biggest investor in Yemen's gas export industry.--Reuters
