Saudi oil supply resumes after Bahrain pipeline blast

State-run Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco) on Saturday said oil supplies from Saudi Arabia have resumed after an explosion in its pipeline, located in Bahrain’s Buri area, late Friday night led Saudi Aramco to shutdown supply.

Bapco said “it expected the normal flow of supplies to be restored soon, as per the requirements of the refinery,” according to a statement on the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

“Operations are underway to increase the refining output gradually, in cooperation with Aramco, upon completion of repairs soon,” the statement added.

Saudi Arabian national oil company, Saudi Aramco, had on Friday suspended crude oil supply from the pumping station in Dhahran, which feeds the Bapco refinery.

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of energy, industry and mineral resources also extended full support to the energy sector in Bahrain, calling the blast “an aggressive action,” according to a statement on Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Bahrain’s minister of interior has called the blast “a terrorist act carried out by terrorists in direct contact with, and under instructions from, Iran.”

According to Bahrain’s civil defense team, the fire was brought under control within hours of the blast and no casualties were report.

“The area of incident was sealed, people were evacuated and valves connected to this pipeline were isolated, as investigations are in progress to determine causes of the accident, completion of maintenance and rehabilitation of the pipeline,” SPA reported.