Niger Delta Militants blow up oil pipelines in Bayelsa

 













Militants launched a fresh round of attacks on oil pipelines in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta energy hub belonging to Italy's Eni and Aiteo, Nigerian security forces, Eni and a militant group said.

The attacks are the latest in a spate targeting oil and gas facilities in the OPEC member's Niger Delta region over the last few months which briefly pushed oil production this spring to 30-year lows.

The renewed violence could further cut into exports that were depressed as a result of infrastructure damage, underscoring the serious security threat to the oil production on which Nigeria relies for around 70 percent of its revenue.

Niger Delta Avengers, the group that has carried out most of the attacks, said on its website that it blew up the Nembe 1, 2 and 3 trunkline in Bayelsa and Rivers states which is owned by the Aiteo group in an early hours attack.

A spokesman for Eni confirmed that a separate attack on a crude pipeline in Bayelsa state, operated through its subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, had taken place. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack.

The company said the impact on the group's equity production was 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL), a 100-kilometre long pipeline capable of carrying 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), moves Bonny Light crude oil to the export terminal.