Tribesmen bomb Yemen's oil pipeline, halt crude flows - officials

Tribesmen bombed Yemen's main oil export pipeline on Saturday, halting crude flows, local officials said, disrupting an important source of revenue for the impoverished state. Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have repeatedly been sabotaged by insurgents or tribesmen since anti-government protests led to a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings for the country. The attack took place in the al-Habab area of the central oil-producing province of Maarib, and the tribesmen blew up the pipeline that carries crude from Safer oilfields to Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea, the officials said. Frequent attacks on the crude pipeline cost Yemen around $400 million in lost revenue in the first quarter of 2014, the Interior Ministry said in May. Lawlessness in Yemen is also a global concern - particularly for the United States and its Gulf Arab allies - because of the country's strategic position next to oil exporter Saudi Arabia and shipping lanes, and because is home to one of al Qaeda's most active wings. Read More http://ift.tt/1m2T2lt