Yemen ‘faces crisis as oil ends’

Yemen is facing an economic and political crisis as the country’s oil resources near exhaustion, a report by a London-based think-tank says.

The Royal Institute for International Affairs warns that instability there could expand a zone of lawlessness from northern Kenya to Saudi Arabia.


It describes Yemen’s democracy as “fragile” and points to armed conflicts with Islamists and tribal insurgents.

One diplomat says that the country’s prospects get worse every month.

The World Bank predicts that Yemen’s oil and gas revenues will plummet over the next two years and fall to zero by 2017 as supplies run out.

Given that they provide around 90% of the country’s exports, this could be catastrophic.

BBC