SOUTH YEMEN PLANS OIL EXPORT PIPELINE - MEES
South Yemen is planning a major oil
pipeline system to be completed in 18-months time to start
exports at a initial rate of 100,000 barrels per day, (bpd) the
Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) said.
    MEES said government approval for the export pipeline
followed a visit to Aden by a high ranking delegation from the
Soviet Union, which will help South Yemen construct the line
    The engineering studies for the pipeline are nearly
finished and construction is expected to start early next year,
the industry newsletter said.
    The pipeline will run about 170-200 kms (105-125 miles)
from Shabwa oilfields to a coastal terminal at Bir 'Ali on the
Gulf of Aden, MEES said.
     MEES said the Soviet firm Technoexport, which is
developing oilfileds for South Yemen, has substantially
increased its initial reserve estimates and recommended a
pipeline with an eventual 500,000 bpd capacity.
    The discovery of commercial quaotities of oil was confirmed
by Technoexport earlier this year in three structures in the
Shabwa region in the Northwestern part of the country, 200 kms
east of North Yemen's Alif oilfield.
 REUTER
