SANAA: Yemen resumed pumping crude through its main export pipeline after repair works were completed, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, after saboteurs blew it up on Monday, halting flows and disrupting an important source of revenue.
Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have repeatedly been sabotaged by tribesmen feuding with the state since anti-government protests led to a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings.
"Technical teams were able to successfully repair the oil pipeline, and work is continuing to identify the perpetrators, apprehend them and bring them to justice," the interior ministry said on its website.
An al Qaeda insurgency and lawlessness in areas controlled by armed tribesmen are the main problems facing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government, along with protests by backers of a Shi'ite militant group which have seized the capital Sanaa.
Yemen earned just $671 million from exporting crude oil in January-May, down nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, as a result of the frequent bombings. The country's main Maarib pipeline carries around 70,000-110,000 barrels per day of Marib light crude. It was last repaired on August 8 after it was blown up on July 30.
Tribesmen carry out such attacks to put pressure on the government to provide jobs, settle land disputes or free relatives from prison.
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