Yemenis fret over oil shortages

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SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Yemen is facing a fuel crisis because of repeated attacks on an oil pipeline feeding a major refinery in Aden, a state-owned operator declared.

The 272-mile Marib oil pipeline, which feeds the country's Aden refinery, has been attacked repeatedly by saboteurs this month. It carries about 110,000 barrels of oil per day from oil fields in Marib and Shabwa provinces in central Yemen.

State-owned SAFER E&P said there may be shortages of oil in Yemen because of downstream consequences of pipeline attacks, the independent Yemen Post reports. It blamed local tribesman in central Yemen for the attacks, saying they were using the attacks as a bargaining tool with the government.

Separatist ambitions and a lingering al-Qaida presence in Yemen have complicated political transition in the country.

Energy company Yemen LNG said militants targeted a 38-inch natural gas pipeline in late October.

The Yemeni government in June said attacks on oil and natural gas infrastructure cost the country as much as $15 million per day in lost revenue.