Yemen’s main oil pipeline attacked, crude flow halted
The pipeline carries crude from the Marib fields in central Yemen to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea
Tribesmen attacked Yemen’s main oil export pipeline late on Wednesday, halting the flow of crude, a local official said.
Yemen’s oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged by tribesmen feuding with the state, especially since mass protests against the government created a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings for the impoverished country.
Yemen has said oil flows through the Marib pipeline, one of its main petroleum export routes, at a rate of around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The pipeline carries crude from the Marib fields in central Yemen to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. Before the spate of attacks began three years ago, the 270-mile (435-km) pipeline carried around 110,000 barrels per day to Ras Isa.
It was unclear when the pipeline would be repaired.
Heavily-armed tribes carry out such assaults to extract concessions from the government - to provide jobs, settle land disputes or free relatives from prison.
Most of Yemen’s output is from the Marib-Jawf area in the north, with the rest coming from Masila in the southeast.
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