Shell to declare 'force majeure' at Nigerian terminal

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

LAGOS (AFP) — Anglo-Dutch oil firm Shell Monday said it may not be able to honor contracts for April and May after a leading Nigerian militant group attacked two key pipelines of Africa's top petroleum producer.

"We can confirm that force majeure will be declared on Bonny Terminal liftings for April and May 2008," a company official told AFP.

Company spokesman Tony Okonedo said he could "confirm two new attacks on the Soku-Buguma and Buguma-Alakiri pipelines," adding: "We are assessing the damage to these facilities."

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group, active in the west African country's oil-rich south, claimed responsibility for the attack on Shell's key Bonny terminal in an e-mail on Monday.

The attack, in...