DUBAI, July 27 (Reuters) - Yemen has said it sold 3 million barrels of crude to Glencore, according to a news agency affiliated to the government in exile headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The Sabanew.net news agency quoted an oil ministry official as saying the deal was the result of a tender, in which 29 international companies were invited to submit bids for the Masila crude grade.
It said three companies had submitted bids, four declined to bid while 22 others did not respond to the invitation.
"The quantity was approved to be sold to Glencore, which had presented the highest bids and was confirmed by the high committee for marketing crude oil, in accordance with the standing rules," the agency quoted the official as saying.
The report did not say where the oil was being kept or where it was going to be shipped from. It said the revenues would be deposited into the government account as public revenue.
Yemen was a small oil producer and exporter before civil war divided it and forced foreign oil companies to leave, halting production and exports.
A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been fighting to restore the Hadi government and force the rebel Houthis to retreat back to northern Yemen, where they had been based before they seized much of the country starting in 2014.
The fighting allowed Islamist militants to seize tracts of land, including the Hadramout provincial capital of Mukalla and the main al-Shihr oil terminal, 68 km (42 miles) east of Mukalla. Hadi's supporters, backed by forces from the United Arab Emirates, retook the area in April.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi, editing by William Hardy) ((Sami.Aboudi@thomsonreuters.com; +97143918301;))
The Sabanew.net news agency quoted an oil ministry official as saying the deal was the result of a tender, in which 29 international companies were invited to submit bids for the Masila crude grade.
It said three companies had submitted bids, four declined to bid while 22 others did not respond to the invitation.
"The quantity was approved to be sold to Glencore, which had presented the highest bids and was confirmed by the high committee for marketing crude oil, in accordance with the standing rules," the agency quoted the official as saying.
The report did not say where the oil was being kept or where it was going to be shipped from. It said the revenues would be deposited into the government account as public revenue.
Yemen was a small oil producer and exporter before civil war divided it and forced foreign oil companies to leave, halting production and exports.
A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been fighting to restore the Hadi government and force the rebel Houthis to retreat back to northern Yemen, where they had been based before they seized much of the country starting in 2014.
The fighting allowed Islamist militants to seize tracts of land, including the Hadramout provincial capital of Mukalla and the main al-Shihr oil terminal, 68 km (42 miles) east of Mukalla. Hadi's supporters, backed by forces from the United Arab Emirates, retook the area in April.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi, editing by William Hardy) ((Sami.Aboudi@thomsonreuters.com; +97143918301;))
