Gunboat attack forces Shell retreat from Nigeria - oil prices rise again.

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Monday January 16, 2006 19:23

by hell

Shell hell flares up again

Shell oil has been forced to evacuate facilities in the niger delta after further attacks on it's facilities...

Shell has been forced to evacuate four oil facilities in Nigeria in response to intensification of militant resistance against their presence in the oil rich niger delta. The withdrawal of 326 staff and contract workers from the remote flow stations in the swampy region is likely to lead to price increaces in the already jumpy oil market. The evacuations follows last weeks kidnapping and a bomb attack on a major oil pipeline.

The evacuation will delay repairs to the pipe which carries 106,000 barrels a day, around 10 per cent of Shell's oil output from Nigeria. The move has raised fears that international companies may permanently quit the turbulent delta area if the Government, a key Western oil ally, fails to rein in the militias.

A senior industry source told Reuters that the company was considering a wider pullout from all swamp locations in the western delta. However, in a statement made a few hours ago, Royal Dutch Shell insists that it has no current plans to pull out of Nigeria's delta.

Royal Dutch Shell has been in a long-standing dispute with impoverished locals who accuse the company of failing to invest in their region, where an estimated 20 million people live in poverty alongside the multi-billion-dollar oil industry. Heavily armed members of the Ijaw ethnic group killed at least one person and injured ten others on the Benisede flowstation in Bayelse State in an early-morning raid on a Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) platform yesterday, the fourth such attack in five days.

The attackers used speed boats and set fire to staff accommodation and destroyed part of the processing facility. In a communique, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed is has 5,000 warriors ready to cripple Shells activities in the area. "Our aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil," said the group, who are also believed to responsible for last weeks kidnapping of four mercanies working for Shell.

Shell has increased pressure on president Olusegun Obasanjo's government to intensify the violent repression on the indigenous people who are demanding more control over the region's oil revenues. The Government has yet to launch a major military assault and will be aware the safety of the four hostages would be at risk in such an attack.

The events, along with Iran's pointing out that sanctions over its nuclear programme would result in a massive rise in global oil prices, has already had the effect of adding 93 cents to a barrel in this morning trading. The rising prices are set to continue as the world wide demand for oil will soon exceed the supply and conflict over remaining reserves is likely to increase.

A grassroots gathering to look at the issues relating to the peak in global oil production will take place in London next month. Organisers are encouraging activists from peace groups, environmental organisations, immigrant rights groups, anti-globalisation groups etc to attend the gathering and share their views on how the growing energy crisis will impact on these issues and more. If you are interested in attending or helping to organise the event, email rampart @ mutualaid.org

Irish man safe = good

Freedom for Irish engineer held hostage on Nigerian oil rig

An Irish engineer who was trapped with other foreign nationals on a Nigerian oil rig is said to be safe and well.

Fifty-four-year-old Jim Kiely from Cloyne village in east Cork was one of about 80 people on the rig when up to 200 armed Nigerians took control of the platform off the coast of Nigeria on Tuesday.

Mr Kiely and other foreign workers were released unharmed yesterday following the intervention of the Nigerian navy.

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Comments (2 of 2)

Irish man safe = good?

by Seamus

Thu Jan 19, 2006 20:41

Is it only because Kiely is Irish that he gets the nod? This despite the fact that he is part of a capitalist imperial organisation that has both directly and indirectly murdered thousands of Nigerians (Ogonis in particular), and polluted vast tracts of mangrove swaps in a gross act of environmental destruction?
To say nothing of working with a despotic greedy and evil dictator?

I for one wouldnt have shed any tears for him if it went the otherway and he came back in a box. Dont get me wrong Im glad no one got hurt, but if you take part in oppression and thievery of other peoples natural resources like this you cant expect to come away unscathed.

Shell out of the Niger delta, justice for the impoverished natives, is that too much too ask?

S

the BBC and other news agencies are appealing for witnesses to the incidents.

by iosaf

Tue Jan 24, 2006 20:38

The source for the story has insisted on remaining anonymous, and in an unprecedented show of "vague-ness" Reuters too are asking around.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4644324.stm

I think this story is somewhat related to the conflict in the Delta in September 2005 when the "Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force" (NDPVF) threatened to fire the wells , after their leader Moujahid Dkubo-Asari was arrested. see "Nigeria - "are the oil fields going to be dynamited or not?" :-
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=72147

But this latest incident is by the "Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta", and amongst their demands are the release of two local leaders of the Ijaw tribe. Thus without much specific info to go on, I get the feeling that this is the "same story" as before but with a new ethnic twist. After last september's incidents which I'd remind ye all occured against the backdrop of Huricane Katrina and the loss of over 20% of US oil refinery production, the corporations (such as Shell) realised that they needed to "beef up" their militarisation of the Delta. And naturally the NGO's have condemned that.
Its not just Shell. Its all of them. In fact Its the agenda of the Russian g8 2006 gig.

"energy security".

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Gunboat attack forces Shell retreat from Nigeria - oil prices rise again.

Comments (2 of 2)