Shell extends force majeure on Nigerian crude oil exports

Paris (Platts)--21Feb2006

Shell Tuesday said it had extended force majeure on Nigerian exports from
the EA and Forcados fields after a string of militants attacks at the weekend.
    "Forcados and EA offtakes have been extended as of today," a company
spokesman said.
     Shell declared force majeure on liftings in January after a wave of
militants attacks but extended it Tuesday after another string of attacks on
its facilities at the weekend.
     The company, which pumps over 40% of Nigeria's oil, has shut in a total
of 455,000 b/d as a precaution after militants at the weekend bombed the
Forcados terminal, sabotaged two pipelines and kidnapped nine foreign oil
workers.
     The militants snatched the nine oil workers---three Americans, two
Egyptians, two Thais, one Filipino, one Briton--from a barge operated by US
services company Willbros that was working on a Shell project off Forcados.
     Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, fearing that more attacks against
the oil industry will force oil giants to pull out from the winding creeks of
the Niger Delta, has ruled out military action to free the hostages.
    "We believe that very, very soon we should be able to reach the hostage
takers. We've put in place a very powerful committee," said Abel Oshevire, a
spokesman for the Delta State government, AFP reported.
    The panel will be chaired by Chief Edwin Clark, the most senior
traditional ruler among the Niger Delta's 14-million-strong Ijaw tribe, and
will seek to contact the Ijaw separatists who are holding the oil worker, he
said.
     The rebels, in statements to the media, have said the men will not be
released, and attacks on oil facilities not stop, until Shell pays $1.5-bil in
compensation to polluted Ijaw communities.
     They also demand the release of two jailed Ijaw leaders--a separatist
warlord and an ousted state governor accused of embezzling hundreds of
millions of dollars--and insist the delta region must control its own
resources.

For more oil news, request a free trial to Platts Oilgram News at
http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/

Please visit: www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.