ADEN — The coastal city of Aden has faced an oil crisis over the past seven days. The shortage began after employees at the Aden Refinery went on strike to demand worker's rights and past-due salaries.

 Life in Aden has partially broken down due to a shortage of fuel supplies. Many more people than usual have been walking about town, rather than riding buses.

Hundreds of cars have lined up at gas stations, which have been plastered with signs reading “no fuel.” A taxi driver told the Yemen Times that after waiting for four days to fill his tank, he hadn't met with any luck.

“Everyday, workers at the station promise to supply us with fuel, but in reality they don't," he added.

Besides demanding that they receive past-due salaries and bonuses, employees at the Aden Refinery have also demanded that temporary employees be hired as full-fledged workers.

Employees at the office of oil and minerals saw employees holding up signs demanding that the government fulfill its demands and punish corrupt officials at the Aden Refinery.

Stations have run out of oil and drivers have been obliged to buy from black market sources.

"No diesel, no petrol at stations... It is only available on the black market, which I cannot afford as the price has skyrocketed," a bus driver told the Yemen Times.

Black market suppliers have exploited people's needs for oil and have raised their prices fourfold. The increase in oil prices has created resentment among citizens of the coastal city. The quadrupled price has left drivers with no other option but to buy from the black market. Accordingly, taxi and bus drivers have raised their prices fourfold.

On Monday morning, the governor of Aden governorate, Eng Waheed Ali, called for a meeting with concerned officials to handle the crisis. Waheed promised to resolve the crisis and meet employees' demands.

At the meeting, a committee was formed to work towards overcoming the shortage. The committee is to be headed by the governor and aims to provide workers at the refinery with further rights and temporary workers with full employment status.

For their part, employees suspended their strike on Monday but warned that it would resume if the government failed to follow through on its promises.

The workers have stated that the government has three days to take action; otherwise, the strike will be resumed. After the oil workers called off the strike, gas again flowed from oil trucks and into fuel stations.

On Monday and Tuesday, Aden witnessed overcrowded petrol stations as hundred of car owners waited to fill their tanks.

Locals were also seen carrying diesel in jerrycans, in preparation for fueling electricity generators in the event of power cuts.