Yemeni security forces managed to foil a sabotage attack against a gas pipeline in the southeastern province of Shabwa on Tuesday, a government official told Xinhua.

Troops of the 39th Armored Brigade stationed in Shabwa's outskirts defused a bomb placed along the main pipeline, which transports supplies of gas to Yemen's Belhaf export terminal in the Gulf of Aden, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

"The bomb consisted of highly explosives and rigged to a timer," the source added.

The army soldiers moved in an urgent bid to hunt down al-Qaida attackers responsible for the botched bombing against the gas pipeline.

The 320 km pipeline, linking oil-producing Marib province to Belhaf LNG export facility in Yemen's restive south, has been repeatedly targeted by al-Qaida operatives.

Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of the state budget, while oil and gas products account for over 90 percent of Yemen's exports.

Yemen's oil production rapidly declined from more than 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the past decade to the current 270,000 barrels per day.

Despite the army reinforcements and high security measures at the country's oil projects, al-Qaida militants have attacked the main LNG pipeline several times in recent months.