Shell: 12,000 b/d Shut-in at Occupied Nigerian Facility

Dow Jones Newswires

LAGOS Oct 10, 2006 (AP)

Production of around 12,000 barrels of oil a day has been shut-in at a Nigerian oil facility occupied earlier Tuesday, a spokesman for a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said.

Bisi Ojediran also said around 60 staff members who lived on the facility have also been taken hostage.

Ojediran described the facility as a combination of a logistics base and oil pipeline hub.

Earlier Tuesday attackers overran a Nigerian navy base and occupied a nearby oil facility, also taking several troops hostage, a police official said.

No deaths have been reported, said Hafiz Ringim, police commissioner for Nigeria's southern Bayelsa state. Ringim said the attackers were armed with assault rifles.

"Some of our staff may have left at the time of the attack," he said. "We have been able to speak to them and everyone is OK but they are not able to leave."

He wouldn't comment on the identity of the attackers or their motives.

"Negotiations are the government's responsibility," he said.

Ringim said a delegation had been sent to negotiate with the attackers. He didn't say how many troops were taken hostage or how many attackers were involved.

Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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