Yemen's oil recovery thwarted by continued conflict

An attack on an oil pipeline in government-held south of the country underlines the dire predicament of its energy sector

It seems things can't get any worse and then they do. Yemen was a bankrupt nation before the most recent descent into violence. Oil and natural gas offered at least a limited lifeline, but now that's as good as gone. In the early years of this century oil production reached 424,000 barrels a day. Today it's barely a trickle. While the latest attack on an oil pipeline, in Shabwa province in southern Yemen, won't directly impact the ailing energy sector, it will send yet another negative message to foreign firms thinking of returning to Yemen or investing there in the future. The south is nominally under government control, but it's clear that lawlessness hasn't been eliminated and al-Qaida re