Yemen's Maarib Oil Pipeline Blown up Again

Reuters - Unidentified assailants blew up Yemen's Maarib oil pipeline on Monday night, halting crude flows to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea, a local official said.

The attack, in al-Damashqa area of the central oil-producing province of Maarib, caused a fire, the official said.

Yemen, which relies on crude exports to finance up to 70 percent of budget spending, has suffered frequent bombings of its oil pipelines over the last three years.

Tribesmen often carry out such attacks to pressure the government to create more jobs, settle land disputes, or free their relatives from prison.

Before the spate of attacks began in 2011, the 270-mile pipeline carried around 110,000 barrels per day to Ras Isa.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Rania El Gamal, editing by Daniel Fineren)