A Niger delta militant group on Friday claimed a fresh attack on a pipeline operated by the Nigerian subsidiary of Italy’s Eni in the restive oil-producing south.
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) said on its Twitter account: “3:00 am (0200 GMT) of Friday @NDAvengers blow up the Obi Obi Brass trunk line belonging to Agip Eni.”
“It is Agip’s major crude oil line in Bayelsa State,” it said, without giving details.
There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from Eni.
On Thursday, militants also bombed a pipeline operated by the state-run oil firm the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at Ogidigben in Delta state.
Industry sources said the attack happened at 7:40 pm along the Chanomi creek. No group has claimed responsibility.
The NDA has been attacking facilities operated by Nigerian subsidiaries of Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell, US firm Chevron, Eni and the NNPC since the start of the year.
The upsurge in unrest has reduced Nigeria’s output to 1.6 million barrels per day, well below the budgeted-for 2.2 million bpd.
That has heaped further pressure on government revenues already hit by the global fall in crude prices since mid-2014.
The NDA, which says it is seeking a fairer share of Nigeria’s oil wealth for the Niger delta people and self-determination for the region, has rejected a government truce to end the violence.
The Avengers are believed to have sympathies for a former oil rebel leader who commanded militants in the region in the 2000s and who is now wanted on money laundering and corruption charges.
