Niger Delta militants claim attack on NNPC pipeline

The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, which has claimed  responsibility for previous attacks in the region today said in a statement it had carried out an attack at about 4am on Sunday of a crude pipeline operated by Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC and independent Nigerian firm ND Western. It said it “brought down the 42 inch delivery line operated by NPDC/ND Western in Out-Jeremi”.

While still unclear the impact on Nigeria’s oil production it is worth noting that the fields in the area – Utorogu, Ughelli East, and Ughelli West – produce an average of 17,000 bpd of oil and condensate.

According to Wood Mackenzie data, oil production from the fields feed into the Trans Forcados Pipeline, which itself was closed due to other militant attacks.

The statistics office said last week third-quarter oil production stood at 1.63 million barrels per day, down from 1.69 million and 2.2 million barrels assumed for the budget.

Story via Reuters