Exports of Nigeria’s Amenam crude oil are under force majeure, oil sources told Reuters on Monday.
Oil traders and a port source told Reuters that some oil wells feeding exports were shut down last week, leading to reduced daily production.
French oil major Total, which operates Amenam exports, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Exports of the grade are typically around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Meanwhile, a Canadian and a Scottish oil worker were kidnapped by armed men off a rig in the Niger Delta over the weekend, a military spokesperson said on Monday.
The foreign nationals were seized by the gunmen who attacked an oil rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources in the southern Rivers State around 8am local (3aET) on Saturday, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, a spokesman for the Niger Delta military operations said.
“We have sent troops to the area, but we have not been able to locate the abductors and abductees,” said Abubakar, adding that the military has extended the search for the nationals beyond the area where the incident occurred.
Abubakar added that no ransom has been demanded yet for the workers, who have not been named.
This latest kidnapping comes after two Shell workers were abducted and their police escorts killed on Thursday, a Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria spokesman said.
Those two Shell workers have not been named nor their nationalities released.
Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region produces the bulk of the country’s crude oil but has been hit by violence from militia and armed gangs.
Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria and foreign workers and prominent Nigerians are often targets.
Last year, British missionary Ian Squires was killed after being abducted with three others in the Delta area.
Agency Report