Royal Dutch Shell Declares Force Majeure For Bonny Light Contracts July - Sep - Reuters

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LAGOS (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell warned on Tuesday it may not be able to meet all of its oil export obligations from Nigeria for the next few months after militants blew up parts of a key pipeline in the Niger Delta.

The Anglo-Dutch giant declared force majeure on its Bonny Light crude oil exports for July, August and September, freeing itself from contractual obligations, after Monday's attack by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). MEND launched a campaign of violent sabotage against industry installations in the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter in early 2006, saying it was fighting for the people of the Niger Delta to gain greater control of oil resources.

Its latest strike on the Nembe Creek trunk pipeline, which industry sources say carries about 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the Bonny export terminal, comes just as Nigeria's output is expected to edge back over the 2 million bpd mark. "(We) are working to repair the line and restore production," Caroline Wittgen, a spokeswoman for Shell in Nigeria, said.

The oil from the facility is particularly popular in the United States and Europe because it is easily refined into gasoline, diesel and other crude products. The unrest in the delta, a vast network of mangrove creeks flowing into the Gulf of Guinea, has cut Nigeria's output by around a fifth and helped push global energy prices to record highs, piling pressure on President Umaru Yar'Adua.

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http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN952643.html