Islamist militants in Yemen have blown up the country’s LNG pipeline for the third time in a month, according to the Yemen Times.
The Balhaf pipeline was last blown up on 30 March, and the explosion has again disrupted exports from the export facility, which is operated by Total. The pipeline took three weeks to repair, returning to full flows on 21 April. The 320-kilometer (200-mile) pipeline linking Marib province to Balhaf has been repeatedly sabotaged, this time in the Shabwa province.
A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia, an armed group affiliated with Qaeda, told Reuters by telephone targeting the gas pipeline was in response to the killing of an al Qaeda leader in the central Maarib province.
Yemen began exporting liquefied natural gas from Balhaf in 2009. Total has an almost 40% stake in the liquefication plant.
Political unrest in Yemen has worsened the security around oil infrastructure, despite the government’s efforts to keep oil and gas production running.
