Niger Delta Watch

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At least 200 people were killed outside Lagos, Nigeria, in a massive explosion and fire that ignited as crowds carried away buckets of refined fuel from a tapped fuel pipeline, the Nigerian Red Cross said.

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"People try to siphon fuel from a pipeline, and after that, maybe an hour, a couple hours after that -- someone lights a cigarette or a motorcycle engine backfires, and an explosion appears," CNN's Jeff Koinange explained.

Despite the country's oil riches, much of Nigeria's population suffers from fuel shortages. People often tap into pipelines that cross their lands, seeking fuel for cooking or resale on the black market.

In September 2004, an oil pipeline exploded near Lagos, as thieves tried to siphon oil from it. Up to 50 people perished in the flames.

A 1998 pipeline blast killed more than 1,000 in southern Nigeria.

Nigeria is the fourth largest exporter of oil to the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration.

One would think that there has to be a better way. The government needs to give people jobs so they don't have to smuggle oil and potentially lose their lives in the process. It is the oil companies' responsibility to give people jobs or else make absolutely sure that the dividends they give to the Nigerian government from their oil and gas contracts GETS TO THE PEOPLE. Otherwise, BOTH are to blame for dereliction of responsibility to the people of Nigeria and the Niger Delta.

Labels: Lagos, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Pipeline Explosion

Dec 23

(AP) -- A car bomb exploded outside a state government office in Nigeria's southern oil hub Saturday, soon after the military reported an overnight bombing of a water pipeline leading into a refinery.

The blast at the office building in Port Harcourt was the first targeting of a government installation by a militant group that has frequently kidnapped foreign oil workers and occupied pumping stations run by multinational companies.

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Going off at midday, the car bomb split the vehicle in two and demolished part of a fence surrounding a building that houses the office of the Rivers State governor and other government offices. Deputy Governor Gabriel Tony, who was inside at the time, said no one was injured.

The explosion came less than an hour after one of the region's militant groups, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that it had placed two car bombs in the region and would detonate them "shortly."

The group, known as MEND, claimed responsibility for the Port Harcourt bombing in a later e-mail.

The e-mail, from an address used by MEND, said state governors in the Niger delta and other political figures "have acted against the interest of the people of the Niger delta, sabotaging all efforts at resource control for selfish reasons."

"We will henceforth carry out attacks against these traitors in addition to attacks against oil installations," it said.

Labels: MEND, Nigeria, Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Dec 19

(Reuters) Ship brokers in the U.S. Northeast keep getting dubious requests for vessels to carry Nigerian crude even as Nigeria attempts to crack down on illegal oil exports, ship brokers say.

In the past two weeks, several ship brokers in New York and Connecticut received chartering inquiries from an unknown Montreal-based oil agent calling itself Adams Financial Services International for a Very Large Crude Carrier to load Nigerian crude oil at Port Harcourt.

But the inquiry failed to garner any interest because Adams Financial has no track record in the shipping industry and, apparently, no line of credit either.

Oil smuggling continues to plague OPEC-member Nigeria despite a government crackdown one year ago, as the profits from smuggled shipments keep luring dealers.

Industry experts estimate that about 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil are smuggled out of Nigeria, with alleged help from senior officials in the local oil industry, the government and military.

In a recent case, the agent representing an oil supplier in Nigeria, Mulics Petroleum and Gas, sought a tanker to load 4 million barrels of Bonny Light crude for coastal African voyages between Nigeria and Togo, ship brokers said.

The agent said that Mulics is one of the few oil marketing firms representing Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC).

However, Aminu Baba-Kusa, head of crude oil marketing for NNPC, said he had never heard of Mulics and that the offer was probably not genuine when contacted by Reuters last week.

Labels: Adams Financial Services International, Aminu Baba-Kusa, Connecticut, Mulics Petroleum and Gas, New York, Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp, Oil Smuggling, Port Harcourt, Togo

Dec 21

(Reuters) The largest oil operator in Nigeria, Royal Dutch Shell, evacuated expatriate staff dependants from the Niger Delta on Thursday after militants planted a car bomb in a residential compound, the company said.

The withdrawal began hours after armed militants stormed an oil facility operated by France's Total in the delta's Rivers state, killing three police officers.

Shell's pullout involves about 400 foreign family members from residential compounds in Port Harcourt, Warri and Bonny Island.

Labels: Bonny Island, France, Nigeria, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Royal Dutch Shell, TotalSA, Warri

Dec 21

(AP) Before dawn Thursday, about a dozen gunmen attacked a Total SA pumping station, killing three security guards. The company shut the 40,000-barrel-a-day facility to ``ensure the total protection of the site,'' spokesman Paul Floren said by phone from Paris.

Gunmen later occupied a facility owned by Eni SpA. In a statement on its Web site, Eni said no injuries or damages were reported at the Tebidaba oil-pumping station, which shut down production. Eighteen local workers were in the facility when the attack occurred.

Dec 18

(Reuters) Two car bombs exploded at oil company compounds in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt on Monday damaging cars but causing no casualties, authorities said.

The blasts occurred in the car park of a residential compound of Royal Dutch Shell, while the other was on a perimeter wall of a compound of Italian oil company Agip.

There was no immediate impact on oil production.

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(MEND) said in an email to the media adding that a third planned bombing was canceled to avoid high civilian casualties.

Labels: Agip, Eni, MEND, Port Harcourt, Royal Dutch Shell, TotalSA