Nigeria rebels attack Shell oil pipelines

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian rebels attacked two Royal DutchShell oil pipelines in the Niger Delta on Monday after a raidlast week hit production, in what they called an act ofdefiance against major consumer the United States.

Shell said it had been forced to shut 169,000 barrels perday of Bonny Light crude oil production after the first attacklast Thursday and was assessing the damage from Monday'sstrikes on its Soku-Buguma and Buguma-Alakri pipelines.

It said it had declared force majeure on Bonny Lightexports for the rest of April and May, although it said someoil would still be exported while the measure was in place.Force majeure means it cannot guarantee to meet its contractcommitments.

The unrest heightened fears about supply disruption andhelped push world oil prices to new record highs, with U.S.light crude hitting a record $117.40 a barrel and London Brentalso striking an all-time peak at $114.65.

In an email sent to Reuters, a faction of the Movement forthe Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said its commandoshad carried out the attacks on Monday against pipelines locatedat Isaka River and Abonnema River in Rivers State.

"Today's attacks ... dispel the false impression that peaceand security have been restored in order to gain the confidenceof potential investors in the oil and gas sector," MEND said.

Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the UnitedStates, which has cultivated good relations with the governmentof President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Addressing U.S. President George W. Bush, the rebel groupsaid the attacks were "our way of saying 'welcome'" to a U.S.warship, the high-speed vessel Swift, which has been visitingthe Gulf of Guinea to conduct training with the Nigerian navy.

"Mr President, your warships do not intimidate us. Insteadthey only embolden our resolve in fighting the Goliaths of theworld that support injustice," the MEND statement said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

MEND complained that Bush had not responded to pastrequests from it to mediate talks with the Nigerian government.

"The ripple effect of this attack will touch your economyand people one way or the other and (we) hope we now have yourattention," the group said.

The U.S. government criticised the disputed Nigerianelections that brought Yar'Adua to power last year, but hassince engaged with him. MEND said the U.S. government knew theelection had been fraudulent but had "looked the other way".

It said it was still ready to hold peace talks, but wouldnow prefer former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to act asmediator, instead of Bush.

Niger Delta militants often make appeals to theinternational community but Nigeria has treated the unrest inthe delta as an internal matter and so far there have been nointernational mediators involved in negotiations.

MEND is one of several armed groups who say they arefighting to redress injustice in the impoverished region, wherefive decades of oil extraction have polluted the land andwater, and enriched corrupt politicians.

But crime and militancy are intertwined in the Delta andsuch groups make big profits from kidnappings for ransom, froma lucrative trade in stolen oil or from providingthugs-for-hire to politicians who use them to steal elections.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

(Writing by Nick Tattersall and Pascal Fletcher)