About 100,000 barrels of crude oil was shut in yesterday by Chevron Nigeria Limited following attacks on its pipelines by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

MEND's mouthpiece, Jomo Gbomo, said the militants carried out the attack at about 2.00 a.m. and that it has disrupted operations at the following flow stations, Otunana, Abiteye, Makaraba and Dibi, which feed Chevron tank in Delta State.

Gbomo said: "We borrowed a leaf from the Federal Government of Nigeria by applying the same measure of treatment the impoverished oil-bearing communities suffered in the hands of government troops by ensuring huge collateral damage. This will henceforth become our standard mode of operation."

He explained that the Joint Task Force (JTF), which is saddled with the responsibility of flushing out militants in the region, has been chasing shadows for the past two weeks and has not achieved any military success in the ongoing military offensive targeted at militant camps.

He said: "We will continue our cat-and-mouse tactics with them until oil export ceases completely and all our fighters return safely to camp 5 annex. The JTF did not free the remaining three hostages as being claimed. As promised, we dropped them off at the Oporoza jetty."

Agency reports quoted Chevron Corporation based in the United States as confirming that it has shut in 100,000 b/d of its Nigerian oil output following an attack by militants on one of the company's pipelines in southern Delta State.

"Chevron Nigeria Limited can confirm that one of its pipelines in the Abiteye area of Delta State, Nigeria, was breached on Sunday, May 24, 2009," Chevron said in a statement.

"To protect the environment, the incident has led to the shut-in of approximately 100,000 BOPD production from its swamp operations in Delta State. The incident is being investigated by the relevant stakeholders," the company said.

The incident had been reported to Nigerian petroleum authorities, Chevron added.

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture, later yesterday confirmed in a statement by Odumabo, General Manager Policy, Government and Public Affairs, that one of its pipelines in the Abiteye area of Delta State, Nigeria, was breached at 22:30 hours on Sunday, May 24, 2009.

He said the company has shut in approximately 100,000 barrels of oil per day of production from its swamp operations in Delta State.

The company, he said, had reported the incident to relevant government agencies, including the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Delta State government and community leaders.

"We have noticed a drop in pressure along our crude line. We have shut in some production and investigation has commenced to locate the actual location that was affected," Odumabo stated.

According to him, details of the incident and the volume affected could not be disclosed until full investigation is concluded.

"We cannot give any information now on that; we are now investigating the incident and in a couple of hours from now, we can come up with something tangible," he said.

Industry production statistics put Chevron output mainly from the Escravos region at about 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day.

The company had planned a major boost to its production capacity from its Agbami offshore field estimate to push out about 250,000 barrels per day at peak level.

Col. Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military task force in the Niger Delta, said he could not confirm any such attacks.

"At about 0200 (GMT) today -(Monday), fighters from MEND destroyed major trunk lines to effectively put flow stations that feed the Chevron tank farm located in Delta State out of operation," the statement said.

The military began its biggest offensive for years 10 days ago, bombarding militant camps around Warri in Delta State from the air and sea and sending three battalions of soldiers to hunt down rebels believed to have fled into surrounding communities.

MEND repeatedly warned of new attacks on the oil industry in response but its threats had so far failed to materialise. Production had continued and global oil markets had last week largely shrugged off the unrest.

The security forces say they destroyed rebel camps in the Chanomi Creek area around Warri and that they are now in control of the ground in the surrounding creeks.

But industry and security sources say it is virtually impossible to fully protect hundreds of kilometres of pipeline running through remote and largely unpopulated areas, leaving the industry exposed to hit-and-run guerrilla attacks.