- Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria oil spills pushes up world oil prices
- Date: 15th July 2006
- Summary: (BN12) NEMBE, BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA (JULY 14, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AGIP SIGN POST AND AGIP OIL NIGERIA LIMITED OSHE FLOW STATION VARIOUS OF POLLUTED NEMBE RIVER WITH AGIP PIPELINE AT THE BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 30th July 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA4KUZLGFHU9V8Y4R9XR1ITFV6V
- Story Text: Against a background of rapidly escalating oil prices, video on Friday (July 14) of the area where suspected explosions in Nigeria caused oil spills showed a badly polluted river and local officials said spills had been going on for almost a month.
State government officials this week said two suspected explosions on pipelines operated by Italy's Agip, a unit of Italy's Eni, on Wednesday (July 12) had caused a spill in nearby creeks.
The news helped to push up world oil prices.
Escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon and fresh supply concerns in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest exporter, come as oil stocks in the United States are falling and as Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West limps back to the U.N. Security Council. pushing oil prices to record highs.
Eni has denied reports of sabotage and extensive oil spills and said damage would be repaired soon. Agip officials refused to comment on Friday .
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has already had to shut down 473,000 barrels per day of Nigerian supply, almost a quarter of output in Africa's top oil supplier, due to attacks by rebels.
In further oil-related violence in Nigeria, rebels in the Niger Delta killed four soldiers guarding an oil industry convoy, authorities said on Thursday. The attacks were the latest example of growing unrest across Africa's oil heartland, a vast wetlands region where militants fighting for more autonomy have cut Nigerian exports by a quarter since February.
Agip's parent company ENI said at least one pipeline was damaged and would be repaired shortly, but denied a report by Nigeria's Guardian newspaper that it had reduced output by 120,000 barrels a day.
The company did not specify the cause of the damage or the impact on production from the Brass area of Bayelsa state, which normally exports 200,000 barrels a day.
The same pipeline, running from Tebidaba to the Brass export terminal, was hit by an attack in March that resulted in the loss of 75,000 barrels a day of crude for several weeks. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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