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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: drsvelte who wrote (41897)	4/8/1999 6:14:00 PM
From: Mike from La.	Respond to of 95453

Residents of Nigeria's oil rich delta seize oil equipment, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Residents of the oil-rich Niger delta region have seized boats and pipeline facilities from multinational oil companies to press for further compensation for an oil spill there last year. The Association of Mobil Spill Affected Communities, formed after a spill damaged fishing grounds and farmland, vowed to continue seizing equipment until Mobil Oil pays at least $20 million in additional compensation. ''We will strike at such targets virtually anywhere in the country,'' it said in a statement Wednesday. The association represents 61 communities in the Niger River delta, a region rich in oil but among the poorest and most neglected in Nigeria. Wednesday's statement said residents seized control of 13 pipeline relay facilities in the delta Tuesday as well as several barges and boats from Shell Oil and Italy's AGIP. While local journalists confirmed that some seizures had occurred, the total number could not be confirmed. None of the oil companies cited could be immediately reached for comment. The association said it will focus future seizures on Mobil. The relay stations are an important link in Nigeria's oil industry and are used to pump oil into holding tanks, where they are stored for export. Periodic seizures of equipment, which started last year, are generally peaceful. Residents have left the facilities in past incidents after saying they received money from the oil companies. In the largest oil spill in the west African country's history, at least 21,000 gallons of light crude washed ashore in January 1998 after about 1.6 million gallons spilled from a Mobil pipeline connecting an offshore platform to a storage facility in Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state. The oil reportedly blackened beaches and marshes in at least five coastal provinces, and was seen in waters off Lagos, 120 miles northwest of the underwater pipeline that ruptured. Recent seizures throughout the delta, as well as the sabotage of a major area pipeline last month, have cut Nigeria's crude oil production by about 150,000 barrels a day. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.