Report in Yemen: Israeli company wins YLNG tender

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The Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas Company (YLNG) has dismissed press reports that it had signed a contract with an Israeli company to implement a project related to the Liquefied Natural Gas Project. According to SABA, an official at the company conveyed the company is not authorized to sign contracts with Israeli companies and that it scrutinizes tenders it receives for the project.

"Tens of companies are participating in the Yemen LNG project but all of the participating companies are non-Israeli ones," the official was quoted as saying. "As the government is a shareholder in the project through the (YLNG) and the Yemen Insurance Company and as the chairman of the board of directors is Yemen's minister of Oil and Minerals, Israeli companies can not be part of the project," he added.

Earlier, a Yemeni website reported that the Yemen Gas Company has signed a contract with an Israeli company named STARLIMS Israel Ltd. to install networks for laboratories at the company sites in the Belhaf area of Shabwa province. It reported that in the tender documents it was written STARLIMS Israel Ltd's HQ are in Hong Kong but actually they are located in Tel Aviv. The Israeli company presented the tender documants via an Arab mediator.

The US$3.7-billion LNG project is the most important economically in the history of Yemen, which is a small producer of about 380,000 barrels per day of oil.  The project is run by the Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas Company, which is a joint venture owned by the state-run Yemen Gas Company, French oil giant Total, US Hunt Oil Company, as well as Kogas and Hyundai from South Korea.

The Yemeni government expects the project to generate up to 20 billion dollars over the course of 20 to 25 years after its completion in 2008.  The first phase of the project was inaugurated in October 2008.