HOMS, Syria, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- An attack on a Syrian oil pipeline in the restive city of Homs strikes at the livelihood of the Baathist regime, an economist loyal to the opposition said.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Thursday that a pipeline in Homs, a flash point for political unrest in the country, had been attacked.
Samir Seifan, an economist loyal to the opposition, told The Wall Street Journal that Syrian leaders could lay the blame for energy shortages on opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"As government revenue from oil exports slump, it has been unable to buy diesel fuel and they stopped getting heating oil, benzene and gas," he was quoted as saying. "These energy products are a matter of livelihood and it's starting to have an impact."
Syrian oil production has plummeted since the onset of the uprising in mid-March. Gulfsands Petroleum said it was reviewing its options in the country following European sanctions after earlier stating it was ordered to cut production.
Seifan said the economic in Syria could contract by as much as 20 percent in part because of the pressure on the energy sector. The Journal reports that at least two other pipelines in the country have been attacked since the uprising began.
