The Yemeni army has thwarted a plot to blast the pipeline which carries natural gas from Marib province to the Balhaf Liquefaction Plant in Shabwa province.
Local officials said the forces from the Ataq Military Command on Saturday spotted explosives inside holes around the pipeline. The 320-km pipeline has been shut down for seven months.
Yemen's $4.5 billion LNG project included upstream facilities in Marib, the pipeline and the two-train plant with total capacity of 6.7 million tons a year.
It is led by Total S.A. (39.62%). Other shareholders are Hunt Oil Company (17.22%), Yemen Gas Company (YGC; 16.73%), SK Corp. (9.55%), Kogas (6.00%), Hyundai Corporation (5.88%), and the General Authority for Social Security & Pensions of Yemen (5.00%).
All oil and gas projects were shut when the Saudi-led military intervention had been launched against the Houthi militants in late March.
The Arab coalition imposed a blockade on all Yemeni sea, land and air routes and then all exports and imports came to a halt.
Though the government came back to Aden after a six-month exile in Saudi Arabia, foreign investors including Total which operates the Balhaf LNG Plant are reluctant to resume their operations in Yemen.
Officials said investors are concerned over the security situation amid ongoing battles in some regions.