THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: UPDATE: Protesters End Siege Of Oil Platforms In Nigeria: "Oil operations in the restive Niger Delta are frequently disrupted by protests -some violent -on the part of aggrieved, impoverished communities that feel cheated out of the oil wealth pumped from their land." (ShellNews.net) Posted 8 Dec 04

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LAGOS (AP)--Hundreds of protesters ended their three-day siege of oil platforms in the oil-rich Niger Delta Tuesday after the Royal Dutch/Shell group of companies (RD, SC). and ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX) agreed to talks.

It was not clear when full production would resume. The protests shut down production of 120,000 barrels a day.

Hundreds of villagers, including women and children, began protesting Sunday and overran two pumping stations owned by Shell in the Ekulama oil fields and another run by ChevronTexaco in the delta's southeastern swamps.

Villagers were protesting what they said was a lack of local benefits from more than four decades of oil drilling around their impoverished community, Kula.

The companies, government and representatives of the villagers agreed to hold talks Wednesday on community demands.

Spokesmen for the two oil giants confirmed all protesters had left the platforms.

Shell said it had been forced to close down 100,000 b/d in production. The amount lost daily had increased from 70,000 bbl overnight, after protesters had blocked maintenance crews from reaching one platform.

"We're not restarting any production now until there's a conclusion to the talks," a Shell spokesman said.

The protest also shut down production of 20,000 b/d for ChevronTexaco.

The company will determine by Wednesday when it can resume production, spokesman Deji Haastrup said.

Oil operations in the restive Niger Delta are frequently disrupted by protests -some violent -on the part of aggrieved, impoverished communities that feel cheated out of the oil wealth pumped from their land.