Monday, Aug 06, 2012
Sana’a: Yemen’s main oil refinery in the port city of Aden has begun operating after months of suspension in the wake of consecutive attacks on oil pipelines in the lawless province of Mareb. This week the refinery received the first shipment crude from the Ras Isa export terminal on the Red Sea coast.Dr Najeeb Mansour, the executive manager of Aden Refinery, told Saba news agency that the sabotage attacks on the oil pipelines have cost the country $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) monthly. Mansour said that the refinery will treat as many as 2,400,000 barrels of crude oil this month and will receive at least three shipments next months.
The country’s outputs of oil and gas from the restive province have been repeatedly sabotaged by local tribesmen. Also, in July, authorities accused military officers of taking part in sabotaging the oil pipelines.
Cashing in on a weakened central government, the attackers detonated the pipelines to extract concessions from the government. Yemen’s new president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi pledged to put an end to the attacks and to bring the perpetrators to justice. In early July, army brigades were deployed in the province to protect an engineering team that was repairing a crude export pipeline. The disruption of oil production to the refinery caused acute shortage of fuel, forcing the government to seek fuel aid from Saudi Arabia.
By Saeed Al Batati Correspondent
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
