Crude prices rise back above 130 dollars, attack on Nigerian oil pipeline confirmed

Crude prices rise back above 130 dollars

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-29 07:30:10

NEW YORK, May 28 (Xinhua) --

Crude prices rose back above 130 U.S. dollars Wednesday on Nigerian threat.

Crude prices received a fresh boost from Nigerian threat as Nigerian rebel group The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta threatened attacks on oil installations.

Buying sentiment was bolstered by a report released by Morgan Stanley. The report said limits on world oil supply could easily lift Brent crude to an unprecedented 150 dollars a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery was up 2.18 to 131.03 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, July Brent crude futures rose 2.47 dollars to 130.78 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Nigerian military confirms pipeline attack by militants

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-27 00:35:54

LAGOS, May 26 (Xinhua) --

The Nigeria military confirmed on Monday that there had been an explosion at an oil facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell in southern Nigeria.

The confirmation came shortly after the military denied the attack by the militants on an oil pipeline. It also came hours after the militants claimed to have blown up a pipeline.

"There has been an explosion at a facility owned by Shell near Awoba flow station, " said Sagir Musa, military spokesman in Nigeria's River State.

Sagir Musa said that through latest reports from military men, Awobo Flow Station, owned by Shell, did suffer from damages due to a blast. He accused militants of sending out mischievous lies to "deliberately gain popularity and mislead the people."

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a major militant group operating in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region, said in a statement e-mailed to media on Monday that the group had sabotaged oil pipeline in Rivers State owned by Shell.

The statement, sent under an alias of "Jomo Gbomo", said the attack took place at 1 a.m. local time on Monday, backed by heavily armed fighters, detonation engineers from the group.

According to the statement, the militants have "successfully sabotaged another major trunk pipeline at Awoba Flow Station in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company".

The statement asserted that the group's fighters also killed 11soldiers encountered in the crossfire shortly after the pipeline attack, collecting their weapons, ammunition and bullet-proof vests before using dynamite to sink the gunboat with its dead occupants.

"Today's attack is dedicated to the administration of Umaru Yar' Adua and Goodluck Jonathan who have failed after one year in office to ensure peace, security and reconciliation in the Niger Delta region," said the statement.

A Shell spokesman has also confirmed the attack, according to local media.

Due to rampant attacks on oil facilities and kidnappings of foreigners in oil-producing Niger Delta region since the beginning of 2006, Nigeria's oil production has been crippled and experienced a shut-in by 25 percent, compared with its peak daily crude output of 2.6 million barrels.

Yar'Adua administration had announced Niger Delta problem as its top priority since the president came to power at the end of May 2007.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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