Yemen: Country Analysis, 2010
"Yemen is important to the global oil trade because of its location on the Bab al Mandab, one of the world's most strategic shipping lanes, through which an estimated 3.2 million barrels of oil passed daily in 2009. Disruption to shipping in the Bab el-Mandab could prevent tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden from reaching the Suez Canal/Sumed pipeline complex, requiring a costly diversion around the southern tip of Africa to reach western markets. In recent years, this region has seen rising piracy off the northern Somali coast in the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea including the Bab el-Mandab."