The Austrian company OMV, operating in the Al-Uqlah oil field, is laying off 200 employees by the beginning of next year following the suspension of oil exports, well-informed sources in Yemen’s southeastern province of Shabwah reported.
The company said it was unable to generate any revenue from its activities in the S-Two sector, due to the total halt of oil exports and sales for over ten months. This halt came after the warning attacks carried out by Sanaa forces on oil export ports, according to sources in the company.
The company justified the decision as an attempt to “minimize ongoing significant financial losses and avoid a complete shut down of its operations,” in a new confirmation that reveals that production processes are still ongoing.
Although Yemeni oil export operations have been suspended since November of last year, foreign oil companies are still present at production sites, which indicates, according to observers, that oil smuggling operations continue in one form or another, as foreign oil production companies operate according to purely capitalist standards that do not accept any losses.
The decision of the OMV confirms the opinion of observers regarding the continued production and smuggling of oil in Yemen.
