NG News: Militants Hold 40 Oil Workers Hostage
This Day (Lagos)
July 27, 2006
Posted to the web July 27, 2006
Patricia Ubaka
Lagos
About 40 workers, mostly employees of Nigerian Agip Oil Company, are now trapped on an oil flow-station offshore Bayelsa State, following a raid on the facility by unknown gunmen.
The attack on Tuesday has forced Agip, Nigeria's fourth largest oil producer, to shut the Ogbainbiri flow-station, leading to a loss of 35,000 barrels per day (bpd). The loss raised total crude oil production shortage by Nigeria in the last five days to 215,000 bpd as oil major, Shell, had equally shut-in 180,000 bpd last weekend.
Agip said in a statement yesterday that a group of armed individuals stormed the flow-station about 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday. "As a consequence of the attack, a significant decrease in the amount of oil treated in the plant has been reported. When the attack occurred, there were about 40 people, among whom were NAOC personnel, subcontractors, security and catering staff," the company said.
Sources told THISDAY that the attackers engaged some military personnel guarding the facility and succeeded in driving them away before seizing the facility.
The source said while none of the militia groups tormenting operators in the Niger Delta had claimed responsibility, the latest attack might have stemmed from a dispute between the local community and the oil company.
Tuesday's incident was the latest in the militants' siege to oil production facilities, and kidnapping of oil workers, which began in full swing last February when gunmen attacked a Shell facility, killed 10 soldiers and kidnapped nine foreign oil workers.
Last month, another six expatriates were kidnapped and released nearly two weeks later. Also, four naval officers escorting a convoy of boats working for Chevron were killed by militants near Chanomi Creek in Delta State two weeks ago.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had on Tuesday threatened to attack US oil major, Chevron, over an allegation that the oil firm planned to invite military personnel to attack Ijaw villages.
Nigeria is losing nearly 500,000 bpd of oil production since the insurgence started.
In monetary terms, this might have resulted in revenue losses of about $35 million (or N5 billion) daily.
