Rome, May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Eni SpA, Europe's fourth-largest
oil company, said it was forced to shut some of its Nigerian oil
fields after an explosion damaged one of its pipelines.

The Ogoda-Brass pipeline, which delivers oil from the Brass
River oil field, was damaged Saturday by an explosion, leading to
the closure of some of the company's production facilities, said a
statement by the Nigerian Agip Oil Co., Eni's local unit. The
field pumps about 140,000 barrels of oil a day.

Local youths prevented engineers from reaching the broken
pipeline until Tuesday, when a fire broke out in the area, Eni
said. Some casualties were reported. Additional details were not
immediately available.

Eni warned customers it may not be able to make all
contracted deliveries by declaring force majeure, Platt's Global
Alert said.

Bloomberg

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), May 18, 2000

Answers

Italian firm reports fatalities as oil spill catches fire Source: Associated Press Publication date: 2000-05-17

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Italian oil firm Agip reported an unknown number of fatalities Wednesday after spilled oil from one of its pipelines in southeastern Nigeria exploded into flames. The company would not say how many were dead in the blaze, explaining that company officials were being denied access to the accident site in Ogoda-Brass, near the town of Bemb in the swamplands of the southeastern Bayelsa state.

The spill apparently occurred on Saturday and the fire happened subsequently, Agip said in a statement without giving further details. The identity and nationalities of the victims were unknown.

The company said the spill was caused by an explosive device. However, it did not say whether sabotage was suspected and gave no further details.

The oil pipeline had been shut down, Agip added.

Since President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected last year, vandal attacks have mounted against the network of pipelines transporting crude oil to export terminals and refined fuel to the cities of Nigeria.

At least 497 cases of vandalism were recorded last year, compared to 57 cases in 1998, according to the state petroleum company. Each incident forced costly shutdowns and repairs.

In many cases, the saboteurs pierce the pipes with simple tools and scoop up the fuel to use in homemade pumps and generators. Other attacks are aimed at forcing oil companies to give compensation for land use and alleged environmental degradation.

Many of the attacks are directed against foreign companies -- including Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Agip and Texaco -- that use the pipelines. The activists accuse the companies of colluding with the government to deny oil revenues to the region. Under Nigerian law, the companies operate as minority partners in joint ventures with the state company.

The Associated Press News Service Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Stocks.nsp? ID=cnniw&scategory=Energy

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 18, 2000.

Tidbits: Obasanjo was in Canada late last week. The airport terminal at Lagos burned a couple of weeks ago.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 18, 2000.