Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
The executive director of the Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) says US and British warships are preventing tankers carrying fuel and oil derivatives from mooring in the strategic western port of Hudaydah and take them to Saudi ports, despite the fact that the vessels have obtained the necessary permits from the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM).
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Thursday, Ammar al-Adrai said Britain and the United States do not allow Yemen-bound fuel ships to offload their cargos, and are exerting political pressure on the National Salvation Government in order to gain the upper hand and record military gains.
YPC chief indicated that the US upped the ante throughout last year, and only five percent of vessels carrying fuel bound for Yemen were released, adding, “Obtaining fuel through the occupied ports costs about 50 percent more than what is imported through the port of Hudaydah.”
He highlighted that the US-supported Saudi-enforced oil blockade on Yemen cost the conflict-stricken country some six million dollars last year, as people had to acquire fuel from stations controlled by Saudi mercenaries.
Adhrai pointed out that a fuel tanker travels a distance of approximately 1,300 kilometers on a road fraught with attacks from Saudi mercenaries until it reaches areas under the control of Sana’a forces.
Earlier this month, a spokesman for the Yemen Petroleum Company said the Arab country is experiencing the toughest petroleum products crisis since the start of the Saudi-led aggression and siege nearly seven years ago.
The lines of cars waiting for fuel are “stretching more than three kilometers in front of [gas] stations in various provinces” across the country, Essam al-Mutawakel told Yemen’s al-Masirah television network on March 2.
He noted that the crisis could be resolved if fuel ships were not blocked from entering Yemen via Hudaydah port.
