Yemen's Houthis piling on pressure with oil port attacks

ADEN - Yemen's Houthi group is piling on pressure to extract economic gains in UN-led talks for an extended truce deal with attacks on oil ports in government-held areas, which officials say have disrupted crude exports, choking state revenues.

Yemen's foreign ministry said in a statement that the Houthis launched a drone attack on the southern Qena port in Shabwa on Wednesday. The group's military spokesman said on Twitter that the operation "foiled an attempt to loot" Yemen's oil by preventing a vessel from docking.

Last month, Yemen's Saudi-backed government said its forces intercepted armed drones launched against al-Dhabba oil terminal in Hadhramaut as an oil tanker was preparing to enter.

Rashad Al-Alimi, the head of the presidential council that acts as Yemen's government, which holds the south, told an Arab summit last week that Houthi attacks on ports in Hadhramaut and Shabwa led to a halt in exports there, saying the group sought to "hamper the council's reform efforts focused on services and livelihoods".

The seven-year war between a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement has divided Yemen, with the Houthis largely holding the north.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Thursday the operations served to safeguard Yemen's oil wealth for its people and "foremost for public sector wages across Yemen".

The attacks come as UN-led talks continue for an expanded truce deal that includes a mechanism for payment of civil service wages, which the Houthis criticised for not including members of the armed forces. An initial truce expired on Oct. 2.

"It is clear this is a pressure tool that the Houthis are using to realise additional economic gains in the talks, and not an intention for full military escalation," said Yemeni analyst Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen.

A Houthi spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Levels of violence have sharply dropped since April when the UN-brokered truce was agreed and then renewed twice. UN officials say the spirit of truce has held since it expired with only relatively low levels of violence on the main frontlines.

It has delivered the longest stretch of relative calm in the seven-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Maritime jitters

Government sources and oil sector employees told Reuters the incidents raised security concerns at maritime firms, with one last month recalling a tanker due to load 2 million barrels.

Canada's Calvalley Petroleum, in a letter dated Oct. 31 to contractors and subcontractors seen by Reuters, said it was forced to halt production as a result of "the current political situation and non-availability of the oil storage capacity".

Employees at PetroMasila told Reuters the Yemeni firm had stopped pumping crude because export tanks were full.

Calvalley Petroleum did not immediately respond to an emailed Reuters request for comment. PetroMasila did not immediately respond when contacted.

Yemen used to pump some 127,000 barrels per day (bpd) but output collapsed since 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition intervened after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa. Current production was below 80,000 bpd.

The internationally recognised government, which relies heavily on oil revenues, was already struggling to pay public wages in an economy ravaged by war and as Yemen grapples with a dire humanitarian crisis that has pushed millions into hunger.

UN and US officials have continued to push for the expanded truce. US envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking this week visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Lenderking described Houthi attacks against maritime shipping as "a provocation against the entire international community" that also deprive Yemenis of much-needed resources, his office said on Wednesday.