By Dulue Mbachu
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil producer, said a fire at a Nigerian oil pipeline was extinguished. The blaze killed six workers.
The fire, at Amukpe in Delta State, struck a major pipeline that carries crude oil to the Forcados export terminal.
“There was a fire and unfortunately six staff of a contractor lost their lives,” Shell’s spokesman in Nigeria, Precious Okolobo, said by telephone. “We’re deeply saddened by this loss of lives. The fire has been extinguished. The cause is being investigated.”
Nigerian oil production rate has suffered this year from militant attacks and oil theft, sometimes pulling its output below that of African rival Angola.
Shell is a shareholder in Nigerian joint venture Shell Petroleum Development Co., along with Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu via the Johannesburg bureau at [email protected]
Last Updated: November 17, 2008 03:40 EST
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