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LAGOS (AFP)--Militants in Nigeria's Niger Delta region said
Wednesday they had blown up two key oil pipelines in the region
operated by the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA)
and the Italian group Agip SpA.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND,
said in a statement it blew up the pipelines in a predawn attack in
Bayelsa state as part of a campaign to cripple the nation's main
industry.
"The Agip pipeline which connects the Agip Brass terminal was
sabotaged at Nembe creek while the Shell Nembe creek line was done
at Asawo village, all in Bayelsa state," the militants said.
Shell and Agip were not immediately available for comment.
It was the seventh in a series of attacks on oil installations
in just under two weeks since the Nigerian government extended an
amnesty offer aimed at ending a three-and-half-year insurgency.
Unrest in the Niger Delta costs Nigeria hundreds of thousands of
barrels a day in lost crude oil production. Militants say they are
fighting for a greater share of the oil wealth.
MEND, the strongest of the groups which have been fighting in
the region since 2006, has targeted Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell,
Chevron Corp (CVX) of the U.S. and Italian group Agip.
Nigeria, the world's eighth largest exporter, was Africa's
leading oil producer but it is currently neck-and-neck with Angola
since the troubles in the Niger Delta started.