SANAA, Yemen, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Yemen has denied reports that its oil stocks are running low.
Ongoing exploration is promising, and the country has explored just 20 percent of its potential, said Oil Minister Amer Al-Aidaroos, Arab News reports.
Al-Aidaroos dismissed recent forecasts that said Yemen would need to import oil this year. Pointing to an earlier forecast that said that block 18 would dry out in 2005, he said that the block is producing 25,000 barrels a day and production is up.
While pipelines in oil-rich districts of Marib and Shabwa have become a target for Al-Qaida and tribal groups, he maintained that the sabotage has not had an impact on oil production.
"Without a safe and stable environment, oil production will not develop," he said.
Admitting that there have been fluctuations in the country's oil production, Al-Aidaroos cited technical problems as the cause.
"But the sector is still a promising one for investors," he said.
An August report from the Central Bank of Yemen shows that current oil production is 300,000 to 350,000 barrels a day from 12 oil fields, down from a peak of more than 420,000 barrels a day in 2002.
