SANAA (NNN-Xinhua) -- Yemeni armed tribesmen blew up an oil pipeline in the central province of Marib on Friday, further deteriorate the fuel shortage in the Arab country due to repeated attacks on its oil pipelines, the interior ministry said.
Armed tribesmen headed by Abdullah Rukaisan bombed the pipeline in Wadi Abida district in Marib, some 173 km northeast of the capital Sanaa, the interior ministry said in a statement on its website.
It's the ninth attack on the same pipeline that transports crude oil from oil-rich Marib to export terminals in the southern provinces in about 11 months, leading to reduction of output of 125,000 barrels per day at Ras Issa terminal on the Red Sea.
The Yemeni government said earlier that it has lost nearly one billion U.S. dollars due to the attacks on the Marib's key oil pipeline.
The fresh attack came one day after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who replaced long-time ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh in February following one-year mass protests, ordered to raise oil and gas production to meet domestic demands and ease months-long fuel shortages.
Hadi has promised to improve his country's economy, and asked for financial assistance from donor countries which are scheduled to meet later this month in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
The cash-stripped Yemeni government is dependent on petroleum production, with oil and gas export accounting for about 63 percent of the country's budget.
Besides the tribal problems in Marib, the country's gas sector in the southeast province of Shabwa has been attacked for several times over the past weeks by resurgent al-Qaida militants, despite the government's ongoing offensive against the terrorist group.--NNN-Xinhua
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