Yemen receives new diesel grant from Saudi Arabia 

(MENAFN) Yemen will receive a grant of diesel from its wealthy energy neighbor Saudi Arabia, enough to cover the impoverished country's needs for two months, Reuters reported.

Yemeni Oil minister Hisham Sharaf said that his country's diesel consumption is 260,000 tonnes monthly, sold at 25 percent of its cost because of the government subsidy on diesel.

Industry sources said on Saudi Aramco was seeking to buy fuel in order to donate about 500,000 tonnes of products to Yemen in January.

This is the second time in six months Saudi Arabia threw a fuel lifeline to Yemen, wich is suffering from a political crisis over demands for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yemen was dependant on three million barrels of Saudi-donated crude oil to run its refinery in June, when its main pipeline was shut after blasts, unleashing a fuel shortage that degenerated into clashes in which people were killed at dry petrol stations.

The pipeline, which was repaired during the summer, is shut once again after attacks in October.

The lack of crude flow in the pipeline has also forced the Aden refinery, where production mainly meets domestic fuel demand, to halt operations.