Nigerian troops are searching for suspected Niger Delta militants that blew up oil and gas pipelines in the region last week, a spokesman for the country's special military unit in the region said Monday, indicating fresh threats to Nigeria's oil production.
Isa Ado, the spokesman for the Joint Task Force, said top military officers on Sunday visited the sites of the pipeline attacks.
"Troops from the Joint Task Force have been directed to fish out the criminals responsible for the sabotage of the pipelines," Ado told Platts.
Gunmen blew up a gas pipeline operated by state-owned Nigerian Gas Co. on Wednesday, then returned to attack a crude pipeline operated by US oil firm Chevron on Friday, sources said.
Chevron declined comment on the development.
The extent of any disruption to oil production as a result of the attack could not be immediately ascertained.
Unrest in the Niger Delta between 2006 and 2009 cut Nigeria's oil production by more than a quarter to around 1.6 million b/d before a government amnesty for militant restored peace to the region and allowed output from the West African country to rebound.
