Sana’a: Disgruntled tribesmen blew up a pipeline in the Yemen’s southeastern Hadramout province, bringing oil production to a halt, employees told Gulf News.
“The attack occurred at 7pm on Sunday in the hilly village of Reseb in Block 51. We were informed to stop the flow of oil from fields to the tanks.” an employee at Yemen’s Petro Masila company said.
According to the website of Yemen’s Petroleum and Exploration Authority, Block 51 is located in Masila area and operated by Canadian company Nexen. The block is connected with the main pipeline of block 14, another Canadian-run block. A worker in Petro Masila said that the block produces nearly 15,000 barrels per day.
A similar attack on a major pipeline in the same province ceased the flow of oil from fields to Dhaba terminal in the Arabian Sea.
The oil-rich province of Hadramout has been engulfed with violence since the death of a prominent tribal leader on December 2. His tribes formed a coalition of local tribes and called for revenge. Most attacks on pipelines have taken place in the provinces of Shabwa and Mareb.
