Nigerian militant group Niger Delta Avengers said on Wednesday it planned to launch attacks on the country’s oil sector in the next few days. If it does, the attacks will significantly cut Nigeria’s crude output which has improved since last year when a truce was reached between the Nigerian government and the militant groups. It will also translate to less revenue for Nigeria which has been enjoying increased revenue with oil price hitting $70 in recent days, the best spike in price in years.
The group claimed responsibility for most attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta in 2016, which cut Nigeria’s crude production from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day to near 1 million barrels per day. That was the lowest level seen in Africa’s top oil producer in at least 30 years.
“This round of attacks will be the most deadly and will be targeting the deep sea operations of the multinationals,” it said in a statement on its website.
Reuters reports that the group, which wants a greater share of Nigeria’s energy wealth to go to the impoverished Delta region, said its targets would include Bonga Platform, Agbami, EA Field, Brittania-U Field, Akpo Field. In November, the group said it had ended a ceasefire.
In 2016 the Niger Delta Avengers bombed the Forcados sub-sea pipeline, a strike which involved the use of divers.
Since January 2017 no substantial attacks have been carried out by any groups in the Delta, Nigeria’s southern oil production heartland.
