(NSI News Source Info) PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - March 17, 2009: An attack by suspected Nigerian militants on a Chevron oil pipeline in the Niger Delta on Friday shut down around 11,500 barrels per day of output, the U.S. energy firm said on Monday.
Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) said the attack on its 16-inch Makaraba-Utonana pipeline at around 0115 (0015 GMT) on Friday had forced it to shut in 11,500 bpd from its Makaraba Platform in Delta state. 
Fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), holds his heavy machine-gun at the militia's creek camp in the Niger Delta. Armed Nigerian militants who have declared an "oil war", in response to what it said was an unprovoked attack by the army, claimed to have blown up a major pipeline in their latest attack on oil installations in the region. MEND, the most prominent of the groups operating in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta, said it blew up a pipeline it believes is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's Agip. The rebels moved in with speed boats, dynamite and hand grenades in their attack on the Orubiri flow station, the army said. MEND says it is fighting for local people to get a greater share of the huge oil revenues. Since MEND took up arms in early 2006, Nigeria's oil output has been cut by at least one quarter due to kidnappings and sabotage in the Delta. Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name MEND has given to its new offensive against foreign majors.
Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said the attack had resulted in leakage into four communities in the area.
"The company is currently assessing the situation and the incident has been reported to relevant government agencies," CNL, which operates a joint venture with Nigerian state oil firm NNPC, said in a statement.
Abubakar said the attackers were believed to have defected from the camp of Government Tompolo, a militant leader based in Delta state who had suspended attacks on oil sites.
"The group had threatened to continue with their attacks on installations and facilities unless they receive gratification from the multinationals," Abubakar said.
"This threat will not be allowed to continue."
Attacks on pipelines and industry installations are common in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry. The unrest has shut down more than a fifth of Nigerian oil output over the past three years.
Some attacks are carried out by militants who say they are fighting for a fairer share of the natural wealth, others by criminal gangs engaged in a multi-million-dollar trade in stolen oil. The crude is transported on barges to tankers waiting off Nigeria's coast before being mixed in with legitimate cargo.
Security experts say groups of local community youths, frustrated by poverty and a lack of job opportunities, also sabotage pipelines in the hope of winning repair contracts. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Additional reporting by Randy Fabi in Abuja; Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by James Jukwey)
Fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), holds his heavy machine-gun at the militia's creek camp in the Niger Delta. Armed Nigerian militants who have declared an "oil war", in response to what it said was an unprovoked attack by the army, claimed to have blown up a major pipeline in their latest attack on oil installations in the region. MEND, the most prominent of the groups operating in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta, said it blew up a pipeline it believes is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's Agip. The rebels moved in with speed boats, dynamite and hand grenades in their attack on the Orubiri flow station, the army said. MEND says it is fighting for local people to get a greater share of the huge oil revenues. Since MEND took up arms in early 2006, Nigeria's oil output has been cut by at least one quarter due to kidnappings and sabotage in the Delta. Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name MEND has given to its new offensive against foreign majors.
Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said the attack had resulted in leakage into four communities in the area.
"The company is currently assessing the situation and the incident has been reported to relevant government agencies," CNL, which operates a joint venture with Nigerian state oil firm NNPC, said in a statement.
Abubakar said the attackers were believed to have defected from the camp of Government Tompolo, a militant leader based in Delta state who had suspended attacks on oil sites.
"The group had threatened to continue with their attacks on installations and facilities unless they receive gratification from the multinationals," Abubakar said.
"This threat will not be allowed to continue."
Attacks on pipelines and industry installations are common in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry. The unrest has shut down more than a fifth of Nigerian oil output over the past three years.
Some attacks are carried out by militants who say they are fighting for a fairer share of the natural wealth, others by criminal gangs engaged in a multi-million-dollar trade in stolen oil. The crude is transported on barges to tankers waiting off Nigeria's coast before being mixed in with legitimate cargo.
Security experts say groups of local community youths, frustrated by poverty and a lack of job opportunities, also sabotage pipelines in the hope of winning repair contracts. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Additional reporting by Randy Fabi in Abuja; Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by James Jukwey) 
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