Kidnappers in Nigeria freed eight foreign oil workers Sunday,
two days after they were seized in an unprecedented raid on a rig
far offshore.
The kidnapping heightened fears in an oil industry hurt by a
series of militant attacks.
Gunmen had captured six Britons, one American and one Canadian
from a rig 64 kilometers out to sea on Friday. Two Britons were
freed early Sunday and the other men several hours later, local
authorities and the British embassy said.
"They are all safe and well. We have handed them over officially
to the representatives from Peak," said Johnny Iganiwari,
information commissioner for Bayelsa state where the men were held
captive. Peak Petroleum is a Nigerian company that operates the
Bulford Dolphin rig where the hostages were seized.
Iganiwari and a source from one of Peak's partner companies said
the released men were in the Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa and
talks were under way to decide where they would go next.
The abductions on Friday followed a series of militant attacks
earlier this year that have shut down a quarter of oil output from
OPEC member Nigeria, Africa's top producer.
Authorities declined to comment on whether a ransom had been
paid, but a security source close to the situation said money had
changed hands.
Kidnappings for ransoms are common in the Niger Delta, a vast,
impoverished wetland that produces the bulk of Nigeria's 2.4
million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. Local people have seen
few benefits from the industry.
Oil companies deny paying money to secure the release of
kidnapped staff, but security analysts say they usually do pay up
and this encourages abductions.
The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND), whose attacks have forced the closure of about 550,000
barrels per day of oil production since February, said on Saturday
it was not involved in the latest abductions.
The kidnappers had not listed specific demands but wanted to
force the oil companies to negotiate on a range of issues including
employment for local people, environmental impact and development
projects, sources from the companies involved said.
Attacks on facilities onshore or in shallow water are frequent
in the Niger Delta, but security sources said they were unaware of
any previous raid as far away from the shore as the Bulford Dolphin
rig.
The sophisticated night-time attack by 20 to 30 gunmen in
speedboats showed that even deep offshore facilities are no longer
safe in the world's eighth-biggest exporter of crude.
The rig is owned by the Norwegian oilfield services group Fred
Olsen Energy ASA and leased to Peak, which operates it in
partnership with Equator Exploration.
The attack had no impact on oil output as the facility is an
exploration rig that will not produce crude for years.
(China Daily June 5, 2006)
