武装分子袭击Chevron钻井平台

Militants attacked Chevron’s Okan offshore facility in the Western Niger Delta region late Wednesday, the company said in a statement to Reuters.

Nigeria’s oil facilities have been subject to a series of attacks in recent months, Reuters reports, as President Muhammadu Buhari wages a campaign to crack down on “vandals and saboteurs” in the Delta region, where most Nigeria’s oil is produced.

Chevron’s Nigerian subsidiary, which operates a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said the attack occurred at about 11:15 pm Wednesday, Chevron told Reuters in the statement.

Its Okan offshore facility in the Western Niger Delta region was breached by unknown persons…The facility is currently shut-in and we are assessing the situation, and have deployed resources to respond to a resulting spill,” the statement said.

Claiming responsibility for the attack was a group called Niger Delta Avengers, which said in a statement reported by Reuters, “This is what we promised the Nigeria government since they refuse to listen to us.”Reuters reports that the same group also claimed responsibility for the February attack of a Shell oil pipeline that shut down the 250,000 bpd Forcados export terminal.

The militants are demanding a greater share of the country’s oil revenue. Oil exports represent about 70% of national income.