Jbessa gas export pipeline targeted in northeastern Syria, fire erupts, SANA reports

The Jbessa gas export pipeline in northeastern Syria was targeted in the al-Arabidi area, causing a fire, state news agency SANA reported on Thursday citing the director of the Syrian Petroleum Company’s media office. The company said in a statement that the 16-inch pipeline exploded at 5.15 p.m. in an area about 60 km from the city of Shaddadi. It did not specify the cause of the explosion. Technical teams isolated the damaged section by closing valves at the Jbessa gas plant and the Deir Ezzor gas station in the al-Bughailiya area, while firefighting and safety crews headed to the site to secure the area, the company said. The extent of the damage and whether gas supplies had been disrupted were not immediately clear. The explosion followed a separate incident on Thursday morning in which the Baniyas-Homs oil products pipeline was damaged near the village of Hudeida in the western Homs countryside in what the company described as sabotage aimed at stealing fuel. That incident caused a gasoline leak, the company said, adding that work was continuing to repair the damage and restore the line to service.