Rebels attack Yemen’s main oil pipeline
12 February 2013
Yemeni oil company Safer told Reuters attackers had once again blown up Yemen's main oil export pipeline on February 8, halting the flow of crude to the Ras Isa terminal. The pipeline linking the al-Hawi Wadi Abida production field in the central Marib province to the Red Sea terminal has been attacked repeatedly.
The country’s oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged by insurgents and tribesmen, especially since anti-government protests created a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings for the impoverished country.
The last in a spate of attacks on the pipeline was in January, when production was halted for one day. In December, Yemen said oil was being pumped through the pipeline at a rate of around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The pipeline used to carry around 110,000 bpd of Marib light crude to Ras Isa.
A long closure of the line last year forced Yemen's largest refinery at Aden to shut, leaving the small producer dependent on fuel donations from Saudi Arabia and imports