Armed rebels with MEND: in the Niger Delta
Nigerian rebels strike Shell pipeline
Nigeria's main militant group said its fighters sabotaged a Shell oil pipeline in the southern Niger Delta today, forcing the Anglo-Dutch supermajor to shut in one of its pipeline junction points.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said in an emailed statement it had attacked the Billie-Krakama pipeline in Rivers state in the Niger Delta.
Attacks from Mend have forced foreign oil companies, including US supermajor Chevron and Italy's Agip, to shut at least 133,000 barrels per day of oil production in the last month.
Mend said the damaged pipeline it attacked today fed into pumping stations connected to the Bonny crude terminal, one of Nigeria's main export terminals.
"Cawthorne Channel 1, 2 and 3 flow stations feeding the Bonny export terminal have been effectively put out of service," the group in the statement, which was sent to Reuters.
Shell later said in a statement: "We have received reports of an attack on a (Shell-operated) pipeline at Krakrama manifold in our eastern operations.
"The facility has been shut down and an emergency team has been mobilised to limit the environmental impact."
On Sunday, Mend claimed responsibility for attacks on three Shell installations, including the Afremo oilfields, in Nigeria's offshore play.
Industry and security experts said it is virtually impossible to prevent opportunistic attacks on hundreds of kilometres of pipeline and equipment in the remote mangrove creeks of the Niger Delta, one of the world's biggest wetlands.
The military last month launched its biggest offensive against Niger Delta gunmen in years, bombarding rebel camps from the air and sea and sending three battalions of troops to hunt them down.
But security forces have toned down their campaign in recent days ahead of a federal amnesty programme that is expected to be unveiled later today.
President Umaru Yar'Adua will offer clemency to militants over a 60-day period, starting on 6 August, if they agree to lay down their weapons, a senior official said.
The government estimates as many as 20,000 militants could participate in the programme, but sceptics question whether an amnesty alone will be enough to halt widespread oil theft, pipeline bombings and kidnappings for ransom.
One militant leader, Ateke Tom, has indicated he would consider taking part in the amnesty programme if the military halts its offensive and withdraws its troops from the region, one of his lawyers said this month.
But Mend has criticised government efforts to provide an amnesty to gunmen, saying it has not been involved in any of the negotiations, a Reuters report said.