To protect the environment, the incident has led to the shut in of approximately 100,000 bpd production from swamp operations in Delta State, a company official said.
MEND said it had carried out the attack in reply to a military offensive against militant camps in Delta state. At about 0200 (GMT) today, fighters from MEND destroyed major trunk lines to effectively put flow stations that feed the Chevron tank farm located in Delta state out of operation, the statement from MEND said.
The commander of the joint military taskforce in the Niger Delta confirmed there had been an attack but gave no details. In the last night and early hours of this morning, there was sabotage of Chevron pipelines around that area, major-general Sakin-Yaki Bello said.
The military started its biggest offensive for years ten days ago, bombarding militant camps around Warri in Delta state from the air and sea and sending three battalions of soldiers to chase down rebels believed to have fled into surrounding communities.
MEND had frequently warned of attacks on the oil industry in response but its threats had to date failed to materialize. Output had continued mostly unaffected prior to May 25, 2009 attacks and global oil markets had largely shrugged off the unrest.
The security forces say they destroyed rebel camps in the Chanomi Creek area around Warri and that they were currently in control of the ground in the surrounding creeks. But industry and security sources say it is almost impossible to completely protect hundreds of kilometers of pipeline running through remote and largely unpopulated areas, exiting the infrastructure exposed to hit-and-run guerrilla attacks.
