Australian officials are maintaining close contact with the families and employers of three Australians kidnapped after a deadly attack in Nigeria, foreign minister Julie Bishop says.
The men, along with a New Zealander, were in a group driving on the outskirts of the city of Calabar when they were attacked by gunmen on Wednesday.
The trio was working for Perth-based mining company Macmahon Holdings, which mines material for processing at Lafarge Africa's UniCems cement plant at Mfamosing, in Nigeria's southeast.
Ms Bishop said the kidnappers had not made any demands.
"We're working very closely with the Nigerian government at a national and state level - the cross river province, which is where it occurred," she said in Brisbane on Friday.
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"We're maintaining very close contact with Macmahon Holdings and the families."
A Nigerian driver was shot dead in the attack, while seven in total were kidnapped, including a South African and two Nigerians.
Another Australian managed to flee the attackers.
Australia's ambassador is on the ground in Calabar as efforts are made to work out the identity of the kidnappers.
Ms Bishop has stressed Australia has a long-standing bipartisan policy of not paying ransoms on demand from kidnappers because to do so would increase security issues for travellers.
She said any negotiations could be delicate and sensitive and the less that was said about the matter publicly, the better.
Macmahon Holdings said it was providing counselling to employees and their families as it worked towards the safe return of the hostages.
