Avengers deliver on threat, shut down Chevron facility

Staying true to its threat, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) said late Wednesday that it had blown up Chevron’s mains electricity feed at its Escravos terminal, shutting down the company’s onshore activities in the Niger Delta. A Chevron official confirmed the incident.

“It is a crude line which means all activities in Chevron are grounded,” the source told Reuters, without elaborating.

Ripples Nigeria had reported on May 18 that a new militant group, the Red Egbesu Water Lions, led by one “General” Torunanawei Latei, had emerged claiming it was teaming up with the Niger Delta Avengers and Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB to seek an end to perceived injustice in the oil-rich region.

The group also handed down a seven day ultimatum to the Federal Government to release the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki and direct Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to defreeze the bank accounts of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupol, alias Tompolo.

It threatened to shut down all oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta at the expiration of the ultimatum, while also demanding “unconditional immediate payment to victims of the Bonga Oil Spill and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state”.

A Twitter account with the group’s name said late on Wednesday: “We Warned #Chevron<twitter.com/hashtag/Chevron… but they didn’t Listen. @NDAvengers<twitter.com/NDAvengers > just blow up the Escravos tank farm Main Electricity Feed PipeLine.”

A Chevron spokeswoman in the United States said on Thursday that it was against policy to comment on the safety and security of personnel and operations.

The Avengers and other militants, who say they are fighting for a greater share of oil profits, an end to pollution and independence for the region, have intensified attacks in recent months, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding the problems faced by Africa’s largest economy.

Abuja has responded by moving in army reinforcements but British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said this month that President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes.

Delta residents, some of whom sympathise with the militants, have long complained of poverty in an area producing oil accounting for 70 percent of national income.

Buhari has extended an amnesty deal signed with militants in 2009 that stepped up funding for the region. But he has cut funding for the amnesty programme and cancelled contracts with former militants to protect the pipelines they used to attack.

Industry sources said that Escravos onshore production accounts for roughly a third of its total output, on average 3.8 million barrels per month (bpm) in 2014, according to the latest available data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Escravos production was already down by more than 40,000 bpd after a May 5 militant attack on a Chevron offshore facility.

Increased violence over the past few weeks has also made international buyers more reluctant to buy Nigerian crude due to fears of loading delays and cancellations.

 

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