NIAMEY: An armed group against Niger‘s ruling junta disabled a piece of the nation’s PetroChina-funded crude oil pipeline in an assault on Sunday evening, it stated in a press release.
The pipeline has a capability of 90,000 barrel per day (bpd) and extends for almost 2,000 km (1,243-mile) linking Niger’s Agadem oilfield to Benin’s coast.
Exports are supposed to be loaded underneath a $400 million cope with oil large China Nationwide Petroleum Corp (CNPC).
The Patriotic Liberation Entrance (FPL) stated its assault on the pipeline was aimed toward pushing Niger’s Chinese language companions to cancel the export deal. The FPL fashioned after the West African nation‘s July 2023 coup.
“Failing this, all oil belongings shall be paralysed within the subsequent few actions,” the FPL stated, with out offering additional element.
Niger’s authorities, PetroChina, CNPC, and pipeline operator West Africa Oil Pipeline (WEPCO) didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The claimed assault deepens a disaster surrounding the pipeline, whose flows Niger stated final Thursday it had shut off because of a border dispute with Benin.
That got here a day after unidentified assailants attacked troopers guarding the pipeline in southeastern Dosso area. Six troopers had been killed, safety sources informed Reuters.
Nobody has but claimed duty for that assault, which was the primary on safety forces defending the pipeline. Jihadist teams linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State function within the space.
The pipeline has a capability of 90,000 barrel per day (bpd) and extends for almost 2,000 km (1,243-mile) linking Niger’s Agadem oilfield to Benin’s coast.
Exports are supposed to be loaded underneath a $400 million cope with oil large China Nationwide Petroleum Corp (CNPC).
The Patriotic Liberation Entrance (FPL) stated its assault on the pipeline was aimed toward pushing Niger’s Chinese language companions to cancel the export deal. The FPL fashioned after the West African nation‘s July 2023 coup.
“Failing this, all oil belongings shall be paralysed within the subsequent few actions,” the FPL stated, with out offering additional element.
Niger’s authorities, PetroChina, CNPC, and pipeline operator West Africa Oil Pipeline (WEPCO) didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The claimed assault deepens a disaster surrounding the pipeline, whose flows Niger stated final Thursday it had shut off because of a border dispute with Benin.
That got here a day after unidentified assailants attacked troopers guarding the pipeline in southeastern Dosso area. Six troopers had been killed, safety sources informed Reuters.
Nobody has but claimed duty for that assault, which was the primary on safety forces defending the pipeline. Jihadist teams linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State function within the space.
