Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The local authority in Shabwa governorate announced on Wednesday its rejection of handing over the oil Sector 5 to Jannah Hunt Company, following the announcement by PetroMasila that it would implement government directives to transfer the sector’s management.
An official source in Shabwa reaffirmed the governorate’s adherence to its economic and developmental rights, stressing that Shabwa’s interests and the rights of its people are a “red line that cannot be shared or subjected to guardianship.”
The source called on the Presidential Leadership Council and the government to enable the people of Shabwa to obtain their legitimate rights, foremost among them the establishment of a “PetroShabwa” company to manage petroleum resources, in a way that ensures directing revenues toward local development and the national interest.
This escalation by Shabwa authorities comes amid rising controversy over the management of oil resources in the governorate, particularly after the decision to transfer the operation of Sector 5 from PetroMasila to Jannah Hunt.
On November 22, PetroMasila—the operator of Sector 5—informally notified its employees that the government, represented by the Ministry of Oil and Minerals, had decided to hand over the sector to Jannah Hunt within one week.
Over the past months, government sources reported that the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, supported by some council members, strongly pushed for assigning the sector’s operation to Jannah Hunt, while former Prime Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak and another faction within the council insisted on keeping PetroMasila as a national operator, according to local media.
PetroMasila had earlier announced that it was scaling up operations in Sector 5, despite its previous declaration of withdrawing from operating the sector in November 2024.
The escalation came after the appointment of the American company Jannah Hunt as the new operator of the sector starting January 2025, based on the majority vote of partners within the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), which governs the sector’s management and operation among stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Jannah Hunt confirmed that PetroMasila’s withdrawal is final and binding, warning against any interference attempts that could obstruct operations or harm the stability of the country’s oil sector.
