WASHINGTON — Yemen, beset by a struggling economy and fighting in both its North and South, was expected to run out of crude oil in another
decade, a report said.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Yemen was
rapidly losing its crude oil reserves.
In a report, Carnegie said Yemeni oil
exports, a key source of foreign currency, declined from 450,000 barrels per
day in 2003 to 280,000 in early 2009, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Barring any major new discoveries, energy experts generously estimate
that Yemen's oil exports will cease in 10 years," the report, titled "Yemen:
Avoiding a Downward Spiral," said.
The report, authored by Christopher Boucek, warned that Yemen's limited
capacity was exacerbating the crude oil decline. Yemen's government has also
failed to draft a long-term strategic plan for the energy sector.
"There are currently three separate agreements: one for oil, one for
gas, and another for a combination of both," the report said.
"As a result,
there is no incentive for oil companies to develop resources not covered
under a production sharing agreement. Any gas found during oil exploration,
for example, is not developed because it was not what the operating company
was licensed to extract."
