Grundberg's movements towards the oil governorates in light of the STC's refusal to share its wealth with the Houthis
English - Wednesday 06 September 2023 الساعة 06:08 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The recent moves of the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, revealed real fears of the failure of efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement and enter into negotiations to settle the conflict in Yemen.
These concerns revolve around the most important complex that is standing in the way of these efforts, which is related to the issue of disbursing the salaries of employees in areas controlled by the Houthi group from the revenues of oil and gas produced from the liberated governorates, according to the vision of international and regional mediators.
The process of exporting oil from the liberated governorates has stopped since October of last year, as a result of the Houthi militia’s attacks on the export ports in Hadhramaut and Shabwa, while its threats continue to target any new export attempt, until its demands to share oil revenues are met.
In the absence of a clear position on talking about disbursing salaries in the Houthi areas from oil revenues by the coalition, the Presidential Command Council and its government, the position strongly rejecting it is highlighted by the Southern Transitional Council, which officially announced more than once its refusal to share the revenues of oil and gas produced from the southern governorates with theHouthi group.
This position was confirmed by the President of the Transitional Council, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, during his meeting with the UN envoy in the capital, Aden, the previous Tuesday, in which he stressed the need for the issue of the South to be present in all stages of the political process that the United Nations is preparing for, reiterating “that the resources and wealth of the South are a right.” Sovereignty belongs to its children, and they are the ones who decide its fate,” according to what was published on the official transitional website.
What reinforces the importance of the transitional position is the fact that about 80% of oil production, before stopping its exports last year, comes from the southern governorates of Hadramaut and Shabwa, and the remaining percentage goes to the Ma’rib Governorate, while the gas export project at the Balhaf facility in Shabwa remains suspended since the outbreak of the war in 2015.
In light of this hard-line position on the Southern Transitional Council, the UN envoy’s recent movements have clearly focused on the three oil governorates. It began with a visit from his office on August 20 to Hadramaut Governorate and holding extensive meetings with the governor, the leadership of the Transitional Council, Al-Hiba Al-Hadramiyya, and the leadership of the Second Military Region, with announcing an upcoming visit by the envoy to the governorate.
On Wednesday, Grundberg went on a rare visit to Ma’rib Governorate, where he met with its governor and a member of the Presidential Command Council, Major General Sultan Al-Arada. In his latest move, the envoy met on Tuesday in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, with the governor of Shabwa, Awad bin Al-Wazir.
Movements seen by observers as a clear attempt by the UN envoy to bypass the strict position by the Transitional Council against sharing oil revenues with the Houthi militia, and they also come in light of the additional obstacle that may stand in the way of imposing the order on the local authorities in these governorates.
As it is expected that the oil provinces will strongly refuse to concede their share of 25% of the export revenues, which was granted to them according to the outcomes of the national dialogue and was approved by former President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and it was implemented after the resumption of oil exports in 2017.
