Militant group attacks pipeline

"It was sabotage by vandals," he said when questioned about a claim made by militant group Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM). The group has claimed previous attacks. It had said a statement that it had carried out the attack at approximately 9pm on Thursday 13 October.

The group’s statement proclaimed: "Now you shall know what uprooting of your cherished assets means […] More to come in the coming days."

The NDGJM – which has claimed previous attacks in the region – warned oil majors against repairing sabotaged facilities in the Niger Delta.

"We serve this as a notice to the Nigerian government and its conniving multinationals that the Operation Hammurabi Code has been initiated, henceforth, it shall be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," it said.

No immediate information regarding the impact of the attack on the impact on Nigeria's oil production has been provided. Attacks in the region have amounted to a reduced output of 700 000 bpd, around a third of its production, since the start of the year.

Militants claim that these attacks are occurring as they believe that a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth should go to the impoverished Delta region. Crude sales make up approximately 70% of national income and the vast majority of that oil comes from the southern swampland.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the government is trying to negotiate a lasting solution with the militants but there has been no visible progress. Since the start of the year, several militant groups have renewed their attacks on the nation's key oil infrastructure.

The attacks have targeted oil majors like Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Eni and the the NNPC, slashing Nigeria's oil output and hindering revenue at a time of falling crude prices.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/17102016/militant-group-attacks-pipeline/