(Ecofin Agency) - In Nigeria, militant group Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line pipeline in the southern Niger Delta. According to the group, its strike team attacked the Nembe 1, 2 and 3 branches of the pipeline.

The group, which is demanding for a greater share of energy wealth to go to the swampland region, had said in August that it would stop attacks in order to have talks with the government but had restarted hostilities due to the continuous presence of the army in the oil-rich region.

At the beginning of this month, Nigeria's President Muhammed Buhari held a meeting with leaders from the region for the first time ever since the attacks began. The leaders had presented a list of 16 demands which includes the withdrawal of the army from the region, ordering oil companies to transfer their headquarters there and spending more on development.

“We are determined to continue this war by all means necessary, until that environment prevails for a genuine dialogue and negotiations within the framework of the 16-point key demands presented,” Mudoch Agbinibo, NDA’s spokesman, said in a statement.

Aiteo is the operator of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, although Agip and Oando owns portions of the pipeline which is 100 km long and has a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day. Royal Dutch Shell produces the Bonny Light crude oil that flows to the export terminal via the pipeline. The company divested its stakes in the pipeline in 2015. A Shell spokeswoman has announced that the company had not declared force majeure on Bonny crude due to the attack.

Anita Fatunji