Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals, Saeed Al-Shamasi, praised the U.S. administration’s decision to ban the import of petroleum and gas products by the Houthis.
This came during his meeting with Roxana Bazargan, Head of the Political Affairs Section at the Office of the UN Envoy to Yemen, and economic advisor Dirk Jan, according to the official Yemeni News Agency.
Al-Shamasi affirmed that the Ministry of Oil and Minerals is fully prepared to meet the petroleum and gas needs of all governorates, including those under Houthi control, despite the current challenges.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a ban on importing petroleum products through the Houthi-controlled Port of Hodeidah, effective April 2, 2025, as part of measures aimed at cutting off the group’s financial resources.
This measure follows the Houthis’ recent announcement of resuming maritime attacks on Israeli ships and comes just over a week after the designation of the group as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” took effect, with several of its leaders added to the sanctions list.
It is worth noting that approximately 3.3 million tons of petroleum products flow annually through the Port of Hodeidah, according to data released by Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani in early October 2022, meeting the fuel needs of Houthi-controlled areas.
On March 4, the designation of the Houthis as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” officially took effect, and the U.S. also added eight of the group’s leaders to its terrorism lists in response to their maritime attacks.
