Shell cuts Nigeria oil output after pipeline sabotage

Feb 1, 2010, 6:56 GMT

Nairobi/Abuja - Royal Dutch Shell has cut its Nigerian oil output in the wake of an attack on a pipeline Saturday, hours after Nigeria's main militant group called off a three-month ceasefire.

Shell said late Sunday it was forced to shut down three flow stations over the weekend following an 'act of sabotage' on the Trans Ramos pipeline in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Nigeria's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), on Saturday called off a three-month ceasefire and warned that oil companies should expect an 'all-out onslaught.'

Attacks had slashed the West African nation's oil production by about 25 per cent and helped drive up global oil prices before MEND agreed to the ceasefire in October, in exchange for amnesty.

But MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an emailed statement that his group had become disillusioned by the government's failure to address the root causes of the conflict.

MEND says it is fighting for a share of oil revenue for Niger Delta residents, who complain that multinational oil companies have ruined their agriculture and fishing livelihoods and caused major environmental damage in the delta's creeks.

Gbomo said that the group would now redouble its efforts to sabotage the oil industry.

'All companies related to the oil industry in the Niger Delta should prepare for an all-out onslaught against their installations and personnel. Nothing will be spared,' he said.

No group had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Trans Ramos pipeline and Gbomo was not immediately available for comment.

The setback will come as a blow to Nigeria, which was slowly beginning to ramp up its oil production again.

Attacks by MEND and the syphoning off of oil by criminal gangs slashed the West African nation's oil production from 2.6 million barrels per day in early 2006 to around 1.7 million barrels prior to the amnesty.

Production had been projected to reach 2 million barrels in 2010.