March 22
— WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) - TotalFinaElf shut its oil production
facilities in Nigeria's western delta and evacuated workers on
Saturday because of spiraling tribal unrest in the area, company
officials said.
A Reuters correspondent saw a helicopter land in the oil city of
Warri, bringing the first group of workers fleeing fighting in
oilfields around the Escravos export terminal.
The group was accompanied by armed soldiers.
The officials said the helicopters were ferrying frightened
workers from the Opumami tank farm, the French oil firm's most
important facility in the Obodo district where it produces just
7,500 barrels per day of crude.
But there was no immediate official confirmation that militants
had set fire to part of the tank farm.
"We are still getting reports from the area. We are following the
situation," a TotalFinaElf official said in Lagos.
A surge in ethnic conflict in the Nigerian delta has forced oil
majors Shell and ChevronTexaco to shut down their operations with
the loss of a total 315,000 bpd of crude, or 16 percent of Nigeria's
output.
"We decided to shut our production and evacuate the area because
of the deteriorating situation," the official added.
The Niger Delta, which accounts for most of Nigeria's just over
two million bpd crude output, has been on the boil for years, with
oil multinationals getting caught in a deadly struggle for oil
benefits by local ethnic groups.
The latest flare-up pits ethnic Itsekiri against the Ijaw, who
are spearheading a campaign in the delta for a greater share of
Nigeria's oil wealth. The increasingly violent campaign has added to
nationwide political unrest threatening the country's national
elections next month.
Scores of people, including 10 soldiers quelling unrest, have
died in the past one week alone.
Copyright 2003 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This
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redistributed. | 
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