[Previous entry: "Africans in Mexico: A blunt history"] [Next entry: "Pakistani Taliban take control of unruly tribal belt"]

03/22/2006:

"Militant attacks cut Nigeria oil output"

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Militants in the Niger Delta have blown up a pipeline belonging to Nigeria Agip Oil Co., cutting off 65,000 barrels per day of crude oil production.

The incident occurred Saturday near the town of Yenagoa, in southern Nigeria, the Vanguard newspaper reported Monday. Some 65,000 bpd were cut off in the attack that damaged the Tebidaba-Brass crude oil trunkline, raising to 621,000 bpd the total amount of Nigeria's output currently shut in.

The pipeline, owned by Italy's Agip, gathers crude from flowstations in the swamp region and delivers it to the Brass Terminal for export, Vanguard said.

The militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which is seeking a greater share of the oil resources, had threatened to increase attacks on Nigeria's oil facilities.

Frequent attacks have cut Nigeria's oil exports by 20 percent.
wpherald.com