Nigerian Militants Step Up `Oil War' With Niger Delta Attacks

By Karl Maier and Dulue Mbachu

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's main militant group in the Niger River delta intensified its ``oil war'' for a fifth day, claiming to have destroyed an oil-pumping station and a pipeline operated by a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, in an e-mailed statement today, said it attacked the Orubiri pumping station in Rivers state at 10 p.m. yesterday. A Nigerian military spokesman confirmed the raid. MEND later said it destroyed an oil pipeline at Rumuekpe, also in Rivers state.

``The political mood in the capital Abuja is shifting away from negotiation and dialogue towards a tough military response,'' Antony Goldman, an independent analyst specializing in Nigeria, said by phone from London. ``If militants can take the violence beyond Rivers, it will represent a setback for what appears to be the military's new strategy.''

Attacks by armed groups in the Niger delta region have cut more than 20 percent of Nigeria's crude exports since 2006. Nigeria was Africa's top oil producer last month.

``MEND seem the most organized they have been for almost two years, yet the Federal Government is lacking leadership on this crucial issue in how to find a resolution in the Delta,'' Thomas Pearmain, a London-based energy analyst at Global Insight, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Shell is aware of reports of sabotage at Rumuekpe and is investigating, company spokesman Precious Okolobo said in a telephone interview today.

Shell, the biggest international operator in Nigeria's oil industry, has borne the brunt of the attacks. The company runs 6,000 kilometers (3,720 miles) of pipelines, 87 oil pumping stations, 10 gas plants and two main oil export terminals, according to its Web site.

`Oil War'

The latest spate of attacks began on Sept. 13 when Nigerian soldiers and militants clashed in the Elem-Tombia district, south of Port Harcourt, the hub of Nigeria's oil industry. MEND said troops had launched an air and marine offensive against its positions and declared an ``oil war'' targeting installations in the region, which produces almost all of Nigeria's crude.

MEND today threatened to broaden its range of attacks beyond Rivers to other states and deep offshore oilfields such as Shell's Bonga and Chevron Corp.'s Agbami facilities.

``The whole Delta region appears to be under attack as MEND has promised to move across the delta after completing their attacks in Rivers State,'' Pearmain of Global Insight said.

MEND says it's fighting on behalf of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta who have yet to share in the oil wealth of the 70,000-square kilometer region.

Stolen Crude

The government and independent analysts say many of the armed groups in the Niger delta are involved in selling stolen crude and kidnapping.

``Armed groups are well resourced and have a lucrative illicit trade to protect,'' Goldman said.

The attackers of the Orubiri pumping station arrived in eight speed boats and targeted a naval vessel with 10 people on board, said Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the region's joint military task force. No naval personnel were killed in the attack, he said.

``Militants detonated dynamite, bombs and lobbed some pieces of hand grenades on the facility,'' Musa said in a mobile-phone text message. ``It is feared that the facility might have caught fire due to intense sporadic gunshots and massive dynamite and bomb explosions.''

MEND said it had teamed up for the Orubiri raid with the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, which first took up arms in 2004 before reaching a peace deal with the government a year later.

Volunteer Force

The volunteer force's leader, Mujahid Dokubu Asari, issued a statement with other delta militant leaders yesterday condemning the government's military actions in the oil region.

``It should be a major worry to oil companies and the government that MEND formed an alliance with another militant group to attack and destroy the Orubiri flow station,'' Pearmain said. ``MEND has previously tended to work on its own.''

On Sept. 15, MEND attacked a Shell-run pipeline at Bakana in Rivers state and the company's Alakiri flow station the night before. Militants also clashed with soldiers near a Chevron oil field yesterday.

Chevron spokesman Scott Walker said yesterday that the incident near the Idama oil field had no impact on production, which was already shut-in for pipeline repairs.

Nigeria pumped 1.9 million barrels of oil a day last month, according to Bloomberg estimates, which is 263,000 barrels a day less than its quota from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu via the Johannesburg bureau at abolleurs@bloomberg.net