A Nigerian militant group responsible for most of the attacks that have crippled the country’s oil industry has called off a one-month truce, the group’s spokesman said today. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) called the truce to give the new Nigerian leader time to set up talks on its demand … Read More
violence
China to Search for Oil in Sudan
Here is another sign of China’s growing influence and activity in Africa. China’s biggest oil company CNPC has reached a deal with Sudan to search for oil and gas in the north of the country on the coast of the Red Sea. Although China has been under pressure from Western countries to reduce its investment … Read More
Nigerian Vice-President Visits Delta
Nigeria’s new vice president visited hotspots in the Niger Delta yesterday in a bid to build confidence ahead of expected talks with local militants who have disrupted oil output and abducted foreign workers. Goodluck Jonathan was likely to visit impoverished fishing communities in the creeks of Delta state, including Escravos, where U.S. energy giant Chevron … Read More
Climate Change Will Lead to World in Flames
Climate change has become a major security issue that could lead to “a world going up in flames”, Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP has warned. From rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean to the increasing spread of desert in Africa’s Sahel region, climate change will cause new wars across the world, the outlook … Read More
Eni Declares Force Majeure In Nigeria
Italian oil company, Eni has declared force majeure on 37,000 barrels a day oil shipments from Ogbainbiri flow station in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta after the facility was attacked at the weekend. The declaration of force majeure allows companies to suspend contractual obligations to customers, such as deliveries of oil and gas, following … Read More
Asari Pledges to Continue to Fight
One of the most influential leaders from the Niger Delta has vowed to continue his struggle to keep more oil wealth in the region, following his release from prison on bail. Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was freed yesterday on health grounds after being held on treason charges for almost two years.
Nigerian Military Kill Eight
Nigerian troops have killed eight suspected militants near an Italian-operated oil field in the Niger Delta. The killings happened in Bayelsa state on Tuesday just after militant groups released 19 hostages as part of a nascent peace initiative between the government and the rebel groups.
The Dark Side of Biofuels
The Guardian reports this morning that armed groups in Colombia are driving peasants off their land to make way for plantations of the biofuel, palm oil. Surging demand for palm oil has prompted rightwing paramilitaries to seize swaths of territory, according to activists and farmers. Thousands of families are believed to have fled a campaign … Read More
Al-Qaeda “Confess” on TV About Saudi Oil Attack
Captured al-Qaeda militants have “confessed” on Saudi media that last year’s foiled suicide attack on the world’s largest oil processing facility was part of a plot to strike oil installations in an attempt to draw U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia. Four alleged members of an al-Qaeda terror cell arrested following the Feb. 2006 attack on … Read More
MEND Blows Up Three Pipelines
The violence in the Niger Delta is escalating. Fighters from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) today claimed to have destroyed three major oil pipelines in the region. MEND said the Italian oil firm Agip’s Brass terminal, which normally exports about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), had been affected by the … Read More