Increasing attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria
Rebels in the Nigerian Delta are increasing their attacks on the country’s oil infrastructure — and lately have been targeting sea-based targets auch as tankers and oil rigs
There are conflicting reports today about the attack the other day by Nigerian gunmen on the oil security vessel the Altra G in the Niger Delta. It was originally reported that hijackers had seized eight naval personnel and the boat owned by Addax Petroleum Corp. According to some reports, however, the Nigerian navy is denying the hostage situation. Either way, the Joint Task Force (JTF) was able to retake the Altra G. One sailor was killed and four were injured.
In an even deadlier attack on Tuesday, nine Nigerian navy members were killed and four civilians were injured when the supply vessel the Seacor Macor was attacked by gunmen. This boat is also owned by Addax Petroleum reports AFP. “Another supply vessel working for Addax Petroleum, the Seacor Macor, was attacked early this morning,” Lieutenant Colonel Musa Sagir told AFP, adding: “Nine navy personnel were killed and four civilians injured.” He said the incident happened at Addax’s Anthan oilfield near the High Island rig. A spokesman for Addax Petroleum Nigeria could not immediately confirm the attack. Tuesday’s attack came a day after a member of the Nigerian navy was killed and four other Nigerian seamen injured when gunmen travelling in two speedboats attacked an Addax security vessel some forty kilometres from the Nigerian coast.
Addax Petroleum Nigeria is an affiliate of Geneva-based Addax and Oryx Group, an international oil and gas exploration company focused on West Africa and the Middle East. The firm has grown by acquiring underdeveloped oil blocks in Nigeria and by December 2007 had 319 employees in Nigeria, out of a total 733 worldwide. No group has so far claimed responsibility for both attacks. Oil companies and their personnel are being increasingly targeted by armed groups who have stepped up kidnappings and sabotage in the region in the past two years. Last month, Nigeria’s most prominent militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta or MEND, attacked an oil pipeline run by Royal Dutch Shell in the Delta and claimed to have killed 11 soldiers in the attack. The MEND emerged in 2006 as the leading group calling for a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenue for the Delta region. Nigeria’s daily production has been cut by about a quarter because of the attacks and it was overtaken as Africa’s largest producer by Angola in April, according to Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) figures.
