The decision to ramp up security in the volatile region came amid increasing attacks by militant groups and gangs on foreign oil operations in the delta, chiefly those belonging to Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.

Officials did not say, however, if the military would send additional troops to the region to supplement the efforts of the delta's Joint Task Force, a division of the Nigerian army that focuses solely on delta security and apprehending gunmen.

Shell officials in Nigeria announced over the weekend that the country's leading foreign oil producer was forced to suspended oil shipments to several customers due to increasing security concerns following yet another oil pipeline attack.

The explosion at Shell's Escravos Terminal resulted in tens of thousands of lost barrels of production daily. Though pipeline explosions are sometimes the result of illegal tapping, witnesses said the latest explosion was the result of sabotage by armed groups operating in the delta.

Nigeria's oil production -- once estimated at 2.5 million barrels per day in 2004 -- has dropped significantly in recent years. President Umaru Yar'Adua announced Tuesday that output had fallen to 1.6 million barrels, due in large part to the violence perpetuated by gunmen and militant groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

Executives at Shell have made similar claims regarding their fallen output since the onset of violence by militant groups like MEND. Since 2005, hundreds of foreign oil workers have been kidnapped by gunmen who hold them for ransom to fund their cause.

Nigeria's militants contend their ongoing fight against the oil industry is based on the inequitable distribution of the country's oil wealth. Though the delta has produced more than $300 billion in oil over the last few decades, much of the region remains impoverished and underdeveloped.

Critics of MEND and other militant groups in the delta say their cause is bent on nothing but thievery, pointing to their practice of siphoning oil from the country's pipelines and selling it on the international black market.

The government's decision to bolster security in the region comes amid growing concerns over threats of a general strike by two of Nigeria's leading petroleum workers unions.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, known as Pengassan, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers have demanded that the security situation in the delta improve in 14 days under the threat of a region-wide walkout.

"Concerning the situation in Niger Delta, we resolved that (the) government had not done enough, and we have been complaining about this for quite a long time, but unfortunately our efforts have not yielded the desired results," NUPENG President Peter Akpatason said.

Union oil workers also have expressed concerns about plans to reform the petroleum sector. One of the most controversial changes would allow the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. to solicit private funds for investments in joint ventures with foreign energy firms, ending the longstanding policy that required the NNPC to ask the federal government directly for capital.

During a recent meeting between union leaders and government officials, Akpatason said the proposed changes are "not achievable now, because the economic situation on (the) ground does not support that."

"Deregulation is going to take more money from people, rather than give them more," he said.

But some Nigerian oil officials in the Yar'Adua administration say the reforms -- which have been in the works for decades -- are necessary to streamline the industry and remove the corrupt elements that collude with militants and gangs to sell stolen oil.

While strike fears have haunted the Nigerian petroleum sector several times over the last few years, rarely do the work stoppages last very long, noted Mark Schroeder, a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Stratfor.

Schroeder said the union workers neither could afford a prolonged strike nor would they want to draw attention to what little effect their absence at oil installations would have on overall output.

"Even if they do go on strike, they would typically go on strike two or three days at most," Schroeder told United Press International.

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Kut, Iraq (AFP) March 12, 2009
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