Yemen Producing Oil at Half Potential Capacity, Minister Says

By Donna Abu-Nasr

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Yemen’s oil production is about half its 250,000 barrel-a-day capacity, making the Arab world’s poorest country reliant on outside help for fuel, according to the country’s oil minister.

Yemen needs $600 million a month in oil products for domestic use, Hisham Sharaf said in an interview in Sana’a yesterday. The country received $1.2 billion worth of fuel from Saudi Arabia in January and February, and Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates may also supply fuel, Sharaf said.