New attack: in Nigeria claimed by Mend
Mend targets Agip pipe
Nigeria's most prominent militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said today it had attacked an Agip-operated oil pipeline in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta.
"A major pipeline which delivers crude oil to the Brass export terminal was blown up at the Nembe creek in Bayelsa state this morning," Mend said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Eni, which controls Agip, later confirmed the attack.
In a statement, the Italian company said: "During the night between 18 and 19 June an act of sabotage occurred on a line connecting to the Ogoda Manifold-Brass Terminal, approximately 10 kilometres from Brass.
"Production was immediately shut off. At present, the total amount of production loss is equivalent to 33,000 barrels per day of oil and about 80 million cubic feet per day of gas."
Mend launched its latest sabotage campaign after the military last month carried out its biggest offensive against armed gangs in the western Niger Delta for at least a decade.
The militants' initial attacks were in Delta state where the military offensive took place, but the attack on Chevron is the second in neighbouring Bayelsa state following a similar attack on Shell late on Wednesday.
Shell said yesterday some oil production had been halted following the attack on the Trans Ramos pipeline at Aghoro-2 community in Bayelsa.
Chevron shut in operations around Delta state after Mend's first pipeline attack in its latest campaign on 24 May, halting around 100,000 barrels per day of output.
The military offensive in Delta state last month focused on "Camp 5" and the community of Oporoza, the base and home respectively of Government Tompolo, a militant accused by the military of profiting from a lucrative trade in stolen oil, Reuters said.
Industry sources told the news agency it is virtually impossible to fully protect hundreds of kilometres of pipeline running through remote swamplands from guerrilla-style attacks and they expect such strikes to continue in the coming weeks.
Nigeria's installed crude oil production capacity is around 3 million bpd but continued insecurity, combined with funding problems at state oil player Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, have meant Africa's biggest oil exporter is far from realising its full output potential.
Junior Finance Minister Remi Babalola said last week that Nigeria was pumping around 1.7 million bpd, although trade sources have said they expect oil exports to average 1.83 million bpd in June.
The discrepancy is partly due to differences in which production streams are classified as condensate.