An explosion which caused a fire at an oil pipeline in Bahrain on Friday was caused by sabotage, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“The incident was an act of sabotage and a dangerous act of terrorism aimed at harming the higher interests of the nation and the safety of the people,” the ministry said on its official Twitter account.
PT: Evidence gathered by the inspection team confirms that this was an intentional act undertaken by terrorists intending to undermine the security of the Kingdom
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) November 11, 2017
Acts of terror in Bahrain are conducted with contacts and guidance from Iran, it said.
PT: HE Minister stressed this is latest example of a terrorist act performed by terrorists in direct contact with & under instruction from, Iran. Reaffirmed MOI’s utmost priority is the safety & security of all citizens, & MOI will spare no effort to maintain public safety
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) November 11, 2017
Earlier, Bahraini authorities had brought under control a fire at an oil pipeline caused by an explosion, the civil defense said in a statement on Saturday.
MOI Statement: HE the Minister of Interior has attended the site of yesterday’s oil pipeline fire which was successfully controlled in record time by the civil defence response team.
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) November 11, 2017
State-run Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) closed the flow of oil to the stricken pipeline, the civil defense added in the statement, published on the interior ministry's website.
Residents close to the incident near Buri village, some 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the capital Manama, were being evacuated to a safe shelter, the statement added.
A Reuters witness said there was a large fire which burst the pipeline.
Bahrain relies on the Abu Safa oilfield for the majority of its oil. It shares the field with Saudi Arabia.
Oil to Bahrain is transported via the 55 km A-B pipeline which has a capacity of 230,000 barrels per day (bpd).
A new 350,000-barrels per day oil pipeline between the two countries will be completed next year and will serve the planned expansion of Bahrain’s refinery capacity.
Arabian Light crude oil will flow from Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq plant via the 115-km new pipeline, 73 km of which will run overland and the rest under the Gulf.
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