The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Syrian Gas Pipeline Out Of Service After Militant Attack

A natural gas pipeline in central Syria, which is under government control, went out of service on Sunday after militants attacked it, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.

The gas pipeline was attacked by terrorists in the Homs province of Syria, where remnants of Islamic State militants are still active, despite the terrorist group losing nearly all the territory it once held in Syria.

The pipeline attack by terrorists cut the natural gas flow from the al-Shaer gas field, the country’s largest, to the Ebla gas processing plant, SANA reports, without specifying who the terrorists were.

The gas pipeline carries some 2.5 million cubic meters of natural gas to the Ebla processing plant, and from the plant to power stations in the area.

Technical teams are busy fixing the gas pipeline in order to resume pumping gas in the coming hours, the Syrian state news agency added.

After ISIS was pushed out of most of Syrian territory, remnants of the terrorist organization spread to the semi-desert Badia area and try to attack residential areas and vital infrastructure. Syrian government forces often clash with the remnants of Islamic State in the area.

It is not clear yet who the attackers of the gas pipeline were—ISIS or parties from “within the Syrian regime which are benefiting from getting this line out of service,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said on Sunday.

Whoever the attackers were, the gas pipeline going out of service is the latest blow to Syria’s embattled energy sector, following sabotages on oil pipelines in the country at the end of June.

Five underwater pipelines carrying crude oil were sabotaged in the third weekend of June, the Syrian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry said on June 23. The damage done, however, must not have been extensive, because the ministry also said repairs had started immediately and the pipelines would return to normal operation in hours.

Source: Syrian Gas Pipeline Out Of Service After Militant Attack | OilPrice.com