Yemen's main oil export pipeline bombed: ministry

SANAA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's main oil pipeline which carries crude from the Marib province to export terminal on the Red Sea was blown up Friday, the defense ministry said in a statement.

"Saboteurs on Friday dawn bombed the main oil pipeline in Serwah district in the northeastern province of Marib," the ministry said in the statement on its website.

Acts of sabotage on the oil pipeline and electricity grid in Marib have dramatically increased over the past few days, the statement said without elaborating further details.

Yemen's oil and gas pipelines, as well as the country's main electricity grid, have been frequently attacked almost every week since the eruption of protests against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.

Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of the state budget, while oil and gas products account for over 90 percent of Yemen's exports.

Yemen's oil production rapidly declined from more than 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the past decade to the current 270,000 barrels per day.

We recommend:
New Dutch King Willem-Alexander sworn in	See the remarkable photos of April	May Day protests around the globle
People rally to urge immigration policy	Greek Orthodox Patriarch's washing of feet ceremony	101.73-carat diamond to be auctioned in Geneva