False energy crisis in Yemen?

SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The Yemeni president is creating an energy crisis in the country to fend off international pressure to resign, an opposition leader said.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has fought pressure to step down for much of the year. He's made repeated pledges to sign a political transition deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, however.

Ahmed Bahri, a senior figure in the opposition Haq Party, told CNN that Saleh's government was mismanaging the energy sector to ensure he has more time in office.

"Where is the profit the government is making from selling the oil? Why are we forced to suffer and cannot even get the basic essentials of life?" he asked.

The wealth of the country, he added, was in "in the hands of corrupt officials."

Austrian energy company OMV blamed conflict in Libya and Yemen for a decline in net income reported for the third quarter. Attacks on export pipelines in Yemen have taken service there "out of commission," the company said.

An official at the country's Aden Oil refinery told CNN on condition of anonymity that an attack on an oil pipeline in Marib province last week halted production there. Last week's attack was the fifth since August.