Suspected militants have bombed a state-run oil
pipeline near the southern Nigerian oil hub of Warri in
the latest blow to the industry, a security source and
community leader said Wednesday.
The Trans Forcados export line was attacked late
Tuesday, they said, just hours after President
Muhammadu Buhari met with representatives of
militant groups in the oil-rich Niger delta to discuss
how to end the unrest plaguing the region.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s
attack.
“The attack was carried out with the aid of dynamite
and it is coming less than 48 hours after the
resumption of operations at the flow station,” a
security official, who declined to be named, told AFP.
The pipeline was attacked in July and had only
resumed operation at the weekend following repairs.
Dickson Ogugu, chairman of Batan community where
the pipeline is based, confirmed the incident, saying a
surveillance team had identified the site of the attack.
“The entire river is flooded with contents from the
damaged trunkline and we are at the receiving end.”
The line is operated by the Pipelines and Product
Marketing Company (PPMC) and receives crude from
Batan near Warri.
Since February, several militant groups have attacked
oil facilities, slashing the nation’s output and
hammering revenues.
The groups claim to be seeking a fairer share of
Nigeria’s multi-billion-dollar oil wealth for residents of
the region — as well as greater political autonomy.
Following peace talks in Abuja chaired Tuesday by the
president, junior oil minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said
the country’s oil production was returning to normal.
“The reality is that as of today and this morning, we
are at 2.1 million barrels production. That’s
substantial,” he said, adding that efforts to secure
peace were succeeding.
Nigeria normally produces around 2.2 million barrels
per day (bpd), but output dropped to a low of 1.4 bpd
this year due to rebel attacks.