Nigeria's Chanomi Creek Oil Pipeline Is Ruptured, Punch Reports

By John Viljoen

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's Chanomi Creek oil pipeline in Delta State has been ruptured, potentially forcing the shutdown of the Warri oil refinery by tomorrow, the Punch newspaper reported,

No group has claimed responsibility for the damage, Punch said, citing ``unconfirmed reports'' that it may have been attacked by militants.

The ruptured pipeline is owned by Chevron Corp. and carries crude from Port Harcourt to the Warri and Kaduna refineries, Punch said. A second pipeline across Chanomi Creek, owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, carries 130,000 barrels a day for export.

The 125,000 barrel-a-day Warri refinery has supplies for just three days and may be forced to stop operating as soon as tomorrow, Punch cited an unnamed official at the plant as saying.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Viljoen in Sydney at jviljoen@bloomberg.net