Eni pipeline damaged in Nigeria, no force majeure

Reuters

3 October 2011

Eni pipeline damaged in Nigeria, no force majeure

* Eni says damage minor, no force majeure

* Bayelsa state scene of sabotage attacks in recent months (Adds comment from Eni)

YENAGOA Nigeria Oct 3 (Reuters) - A pipeline in Nigeria's onshore Niger Delta owned by Italian energy group Eni has been damaged, local industry sources and witnesses said, but the company said it planned no force majeure and aimed to repair the pipeline quickly.

The pipeline, in Nembe, Bayelsa state, has been leaking oil into the creeks, the sources and witnesses said.

Eni does not plan to introduce any force majeure on its oil export after the small incident at the pipeline, which is part of Obama-Brass line, an Eni spokesman said.

"It is a very small incident. No force majeure is expected. Works to repair the damage will be completed in the next few hours," the spokesman said.

Bayelsa state has been the scene of sabotage attacks in recent months by local residents who say oil companies have broken agreements to supply provisions in exchange for pumping oil.

Foreign oil firms working in Africa's largest oil industry say the majority of oil spills are caused by oil theft and sabotage. (Reporting by Samuel Tife and Svetlana Kovalyova in Milan; Writing by Joe Brock; editing by William Hardy)