New oil field explored in Yemen

Yemen's oil minister Muhammad Khadem al-Wajih announced on Wednesday in Sanaa that anew oil field was explored in Hadramout with a production capacity of 16150 barrels every day.

News report quoted al-Wajih as saying to pressmen that this discovery which was made by a British company its trade production possibilities will be declared by the beginning of 2001.

The Yemeni minister continued that this exploration will be added to another discovery in December 23 also in Hadramout of a well of a production capacity of 5000 barrels every day.

In July this year, the Yemeni minister announced that his country's oil revenues are supposed to reach US $ 1.4 billion in the current year, representing an increase of 40% over the figures of last year, 1999.

Yemen which produces 480,000 barrels of oil per day and is not a member in the OPEC has in recent years signed huge number of oil excavation contracts and haring of production will foreign companies with the aim to increase its production up to 700,000 barrels every day.

However, Yemen's officially fixed oil reserves are 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 420 billion cubic meters of natural gas.