Shell denies claim of pipeline attack

8 Feb 2010, 6:04 am   -   Source: AAP
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Shell oil company has denied a claim by Nigerian militants that they attacked a major Shell pipeline in the volatile Niger Delta.

Shell oil company has denied a claim by Nigerian militants that they attacked a major Shell pipeline in the volatile Niger Delta.

A group called the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) said in a statement on Sunday that overnight it had attacked and "successfully disabled the trunk line belonging to Shell in the swamp of Obunoma" in oil-rich Rivers State.

But Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo told AFP: "We have no report of any attack in that area."

The JRC also said in its statement it's "reinvigorated as a result of series of consultations with patriotic groups in our territory".

The main militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) announced last week it was calling off a three-month-old truce with the government.

A key demand of the militants is that local communities benefit from the region's oil wealth.

Oil is Nigeria's economic mainstay, raking in about 95 per cent of export earnings and accounting for about 85 per cent of budget requirements for the OPEC member country.

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