Yemen held parliamentary elections in April 2003 and is scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2006. Political stability in Yemen is critically important to regional Oil producers, given that Yemen sits at the entrance to the Bab el Mandab strait, which links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. The strait is one of the most strategic shipping lanes in the world, with an estimated 3 million barrels per day (bbl/d) oil flow (for other major oil shipping routes, please see our World Oil Transit Chokepoints report. 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, instead diverting them at great cost around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope).