M&G: Four Shell oil workers taken hostage in Nigeria
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Four Shell oil workers taken hostage in Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria, 12 January 2006
Four Shell foreign oil workers have been abducted from an offshore oilfield in southern Nigeria, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.
"I can confirm that four foreign workers were abducted yesterday [Wednesday]. Armed men stormed our E.A Field and took away the four men," the spokesperson said.
He refused to disclose the identities of the workers.
"For safety and security reasons, it is not right to give details at this moment," he added.
The Bulgarian foreign ministry said one national and a Briton were among the four workers.
"The Bulgarian national Milko Nitchev was abducted in Nigeria and our embassy has contacted the embassy of Great Britain, one of whose citizens has also been abducted," ministry spokesperson Dimitar Tsanchev said.
"We do not know who took the Bulgarian national or for what reason," said Tsanchev, adding "kidnappings are frequent" in Nigeria and a warning to people travelling to that country is posted on the Bulgarian foreign ministry's website.
The Nigerian press said two of the Shell employees were Britons and the two other Hondurians, who were aboard a tanker, the Sea Eagle, loading crude oil in that offshore extraction zone.
The kidnappers arrived the EA field, where Shell was producing about 120 000 barrels of oil per day from its Sea Eagle vessel, and shot their way through before seizing the workers, The Guardian newspaper said.
The incident near the oil city of Port Harcourt came barely a week after Shell restored the production of 180 000 barrels of oil per day, suspended for two weeks following a pipeline explosion at its Bonny terminal.
Oil companies operating in Nigeria's oil region are regularly target of kidnappings and seizure of equipment by armed gangs and youths from the poverty-stricken communities of the area.
Such hostages are released after negotiation between the oil firms and the abductors. Such deals usually entail payment of ransom and other benefits to the the captors but oil firms do not publicly admit paying such ransom.
In a single incident in 2000, 165 local and foreign employees of Shell and two rigs were seized by restive youths in southern Nigeria. It took the intervention of the government before they were released. Since then, there have been various hostage-takings and seizures affecting oil majors.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest source of oil, producing 2,6-million barrels per day last year, and the world's eighth biggest producer of crude.
Shell is the biggest player in the country's industry, accounting for about half of total production. - AFP
Four Shell foreign oil workers have been abducted from an offshore oilfield in southern Nigeria, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.
"I can confirm that four foreign workers were abducted yesterday [Wednesday]. Armed men stormed our E.A Field and took away the four men," the spokesperson said.
He refused to disclose the identities of the workers.
"For safety and security reasons, it is not right to give details at this moment," he added.
The Bulgarian foreign ministry said one national and a Briton were among the four workers.
"The Bulgarian national Milko Nitchev was abducted in Nigeria and our embassy has contacted the embassy of Great Britain, one of whose citizens has also been abducted," ministry spokesperson Dimitar Tsanchev said.
"We do not know who took the Bulgarian national or for what reason," said Tsanchev, adding "kidnappings are frequent" in Nigeria and a warning to people travelling to that country is posted on the Bulgarian foreign ministry's website.
The Nigerian press said two of the Shell employees were Britons and the two other Hondurians, who were aboard a tanker, the Sea Eagle, loading crude oil in that offshore extraction zone.
The kidnappers arrived the EA field, where Shell was producing about 120 000 barrels of oil per day from its Sea Eagle vessel, and shot their way through before seizing the workers, The Guardian newspaper said.
The incident near the oil city of Port Harcourt came barely a week after Shell restored the production of 180 000 barrels of oil per day, suspended for two weeks following a pipeline explosion at its Bonny terminal.
Oil companies operating in Nigeria's oil region are regularly target of kidnappings and seizure of equipment by armed gangs and youths from the poverty-stricken communities of the area.
Such hostages are released after negotiation between the oil firms and the abductors. Such deals usually entail payment of ransom and other benefits to the the captors but oil firms do not publicly admit paying such ransom.
In a single incident in 2000, 165 local and foreign employees of Shell and two rigs were seized by restive youths in southern Nigeria. It took the intervention of the government before they were released. Since then, there have been various hostage-takings and seizures affecting oil majors.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest source of oil, producing 2,6-million barrels per day last year, and the world's eighth biggest producer of crude.
Shell is the biggest player in the country's industry, accounting for about half of total production. - AFP
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