Attack Shuts Down Nigeria Oil Platform

The most powerful militant group in Nigeria said it launched a rare attack against an offshore oil installation Thursday, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it shut down production from the area after the violence.

A leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta told the Associated Press that militants in open-hulled boats traveled through heavy seas to attack the Bonga oil field more than 65 miles from land. But they were not able to enter a computer control room they had hoped to destroy.

The militant leader spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid punishment.

Olav Ljosne, a spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell confirmed the attack but gave no details. He said production had been stopped at the field, which normally produces about 200,000 barrels of crude per day.

That accounts for about 10 percent of Nigeria's current daily output of about 2 million barrels per day - already significantly down from the amount produced before years of militant attacks on oil infrastructure.

The militants also said they kidnapped an American worker from a supply vessel they met while returning home from the attack. The seizure was confirmed by private security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to prohibitions on dealings with the media. The officials said two other seamen onboard were injured in that attack.

The militant leader said the militants were considering using the kidnapped American as a bargaining chip in their effort to free a militant leader who is in prison on charges of arms dealing and terrorism.

Over 200 foreign hostages have been seized since an upsurge of violence that began in early 2006. The hostages are normally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Attacks against offshore facilities are exceedingly rare.

Oil industry officials consider their operations on the high seas much safer than those in the creeks and swamps of Nigeria's southern Niger Delta, where most of the attacks during two years of increased violence have taken place.

Militant attacks on oil infrastructure have reduced by about a quarter the total oil production in Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest producer and a member of OPEC.

The turmoil in Nigeria's south has helped send oil prices to historical heights, which gives the militants more leverage in their drive to force the federal government to send more oil-industry proceeds to their areas.

Despite being the home of almost all of Nigeria's petroleum reserves, the country's south is as desperately poor as the rest of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 140 million people.

But criminality and militancy are closely linked, with many of the militant groups accused of stealing crude oil from wells and pipelines for sale in overseas market and helping politicians rig elections.