Militants blow up export line, crude production threatened

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Militants on Tuesday morning attacked an export line operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited at Escravos in the Warri South West Council Area of Delta State.

The attack, which the Niger Delta Avengers, claimed responsibility for, reportedly occurred at about 3:45am.

It marks the first attack by the militant group on an oil facility since it announced a ceasefire and nominated the Chief Edwin Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Group to hold talks on its behalf with the Federal Government.

A statement sent to our correspondent on Tuesday by the NDA spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, warned multinational oil companies to stop repairs on any facility earlier attacked by its strike force.

The statement read, “Today at about 3:45am, our strike team 06 took down Chevron’s Escravos export pipeline at Escravos offshore. This action is to further warn all the IOCs that when we warn that there should be no repairs pending negotiation/dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta, it means there should be no repairs.

“Any attempt to use dialogue to distract us so as to allow the free flow of our oil will halt the dialogue process.”

A military source confirmed the attack to our correspondent.

Local sources also confirmed the incident, saying that they heard loud explosion from Chevron’s Okan field in Ugborodo area in the early hours of Tuesday.

An oil industry source, who confirmed the attack, described it as a major setback to oil production in the country, especially now that some improvement in oil production was being recorded.

When contacted, the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria, Mr. Deji Haastrup, said, “As a matter of longstanding policy, we do not comment on the safety of our personnel or security of our assets.”

The attack comes barely six days to the long awaited meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Niger Delta leaders led by Clark slated for October 31 in Abuja.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said that Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited has resumed crude oil exports from the Forcados terminal eight months after it was shut down following militant attacks.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

The Director, Global Upstream, Shell Oil Company, Mr. Andrew Brown, was said to have informed the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal at a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari said he was determined to restore Nigeria to the “good old days of accountability.”

Source: Punch