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Unidentified armed men kidnapped four foreign oil workers including an American and Briton from an offshore oilfield in Nigeria operated by Royal Dutch Shell, authorities said on Thursday.
Unidentified armed men kidnapped four foreign oil workers including an American and Briton from an offshore oilfield in Nigeria operated by Royal Dutch Shell, authorities said on Thursday.
It was the second major attack on Shell facilities in Nigeria within three weeks, after militants blew up a big oil export pipeline in December, and caused another disruption in supplies from the world's eighth largest exporter.
The attackers stormed the 120,000 barrel per day E.A. field in three boats on Wednesday and opened fire, injuring one person, before abducting the four men, authorities said.
"A support vessel was invaded by armed men and four persons were abducted," a Shell spokesman said.
An industry source said the process of shutting down the field, located 15 miles from the coast of the southern Niger Delta, had begun and workers were being evacuated.
The hostages also numbered a Honduran and Bulgarian and were taken from a ship servicing the field's main offshore platform, diplomats said.
A Navy source said seven armed naval officers posted as security to the oilfield were also taken along with the expatriates, but this was denied by a Navy spokesman.
The navy deployed helicopters and light gunboats on Thursday to track down the kidnappers.
Royal Dutch Shell has been in a long-standing dispute with some militants based in villages to the E.A. field, and has experienced attacks and threats there in the past.
Violence against the oil industry is frequent in the Niger Delta, where an estimated 20 million people live in poverty alongside a multi-billion-dollar industry. Their resentment fuels killings, sabotage, kidnappings and massive oil theft.
Foreign oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria are almost always released after payment of a ransom, although some companies have a policy of not paying up.
The bulk of Nigeria's 2.4 million bpd output comes from the highly populated swamps of the delta, but most new investment is directed toward big new offshore finds which the industry hopes will be more immune to attack.
The E.A. field is the most vulnerable of these offshore oilfields because of its proximity to land. Other big new fields under development, such as Bonga and Agbami, are more than 100 km from the coast and have proved inaccessible to militants.
(Additional reporting by Segun Owen)