Yemen tribe to allow govt to fix oil pipeline shut since March

Source:Reuters

12\07\2011

Armed tribesmen who attacked Yemen's main oil pipeline in March have agreed to let the government move in the repair the key export pipeline, the tribe's leader said on Tuesday.

A Yemen government source said at the end of June a military operation may be launched to secure and repair the pipeline which has been shut since a mid-March attack, unless the tribesmen allow repairs to go ahead quickly.


"We have informed authorities that we will permit engineers to fix the pipeline," said Ali al-Shabwani, the head of the tribe that claimed responsibility for damaging the pipeline.


The lack of oil flowing from fields in the Maarib province has forced Yemen's Aden refinery to halt, cut the poorest Arab country's revenues and forced it to import more costly fuel.