Nigerian oil facility attacked by gunmen

About a dozen gunmen attacked a Total SA oil pumping station in Nigeria early today, killing three police guards and shutting down the facility, company officials said.

Meanwhile, oil firm Royal Dutch Shell PLC began evacuating all family members of foreign workers as a precaution against a worsening security situation in the oil-rich delta.

About 12 men attacked a residential compound “a relatively large distance” from the oil production site, which was not attacked, Total spokesman Paul Floren said by phone from Paris.

A Total official in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, said the pumping station in the Obagi oil field had been shut down.

Floren said the station usually produces about 40,000 barrels a day. He did not say whether it had been shut down.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer and the fifth-largest US supplier, has seen its typical oil production of 2.5 million barrels per day cut by a quarter this year by a series of attacks and hostage-takings by militants – some seeking ransoms and others political influence.

Gangs and politically minded militants say attacking the oil infrastructure is their only way to get a share of the country’s oil wealth.

Floren said today’s attack was not political.

“They were looking to steal,” he said, saying the assailants broke into offices, but it was unclear if they took anything.

They have since left and the site is secure, Floren said, adding that no hostages were taken.

Four Total employees were slightly injured and were taken to a hospital, Floren said. He said he had no information on whether any attackers were killed or injured.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC began evacuating all dependants of foreign employees from the delta region today, citing the deteriorating security situation.

The move was “a precautionary measure”, company spokesman Bisi Ojediran said. He declined to say how many people were being evacuated, but many in Nigeria’s oil industry said hundreds were likely to be affected.

Ojediran said he could not recall the last time Shell took such a move, saying it was “the first time in recent times” that the company decided to evacuate all family members.