THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Shell Nigeria: 8,000 B/D Output Shut In After New Unrest: “Angry villagers have raided a small oil platform in the Niger Delta, forcing Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD SC) to close the 8,000 barrel a day flow station, a company spokesman said Wednesday” (ShellNews.net) Posted 13 Jan 05

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LAGOS -- Angry villagers have raided a small oil platform in the Niger Delta, forcing Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD SC) to close the 8,000 barrel a day flow station, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

Neighboring villagers overran the Odema Creek flow station Jan. 7 after a generator donated by Shell broke down, the company official said.

Shell is the biggest operator in seventh largest oil exporter Nigeria.

Other community unrest forced it to declare force majeure on 114,000 b/d. A spokesman said about half of that is back on stream with the rest expected to return soon.

The company spokesman said Shell is in talks with local leaders and has sent mechanics to repair the donated generator.

Communities upset Nigeria's vast oil wealth isn't helping local villagers frequently target foreign oil operations.

The federal government has pledged to combat endemic corruption by boosting transparency, but problems persist.

-By Shai Oster, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9357; shai.oster@dowjones.com

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