Fresh attacks have started on oil facilities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The renewed attacks on oil facilities owned by Shell/Agip started on Wednesday 25th November 2020.

Militants explosions rocked the facilities located at the Ikarama community in Yenagoa Bayelsa forcing Shell to shut down the facility.

“We have a report of an interference on our pipeline about one kilometer from Ikarama Community in Bayelsa State. We immediately shut-in the line and we have informed the regulatory agencies and stakeholders. A joint investigation team led by government officials will determine the cause of the interference,” says Shell’s spokesperson.

He lamented that citizens, for several years, have had to cope with years of oil pipeline vandalism in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and that is one of the major challenges oil companies operating in the region.

The last time Nigeria fell into a recession, the economy was ravaged by a fall in oil prices but made worse by attacks on oil facilities by Niger Delta Militants. Oil production fell drastically during the pipeline bombings hurting Nigeria’s foreign exchange inflows.

At the height of the bombings, the exchange rate crashed to over N500/$1 at the black market.

The protracted series of attacks forced the government to negotiate a peace deal with militants helping Nigeria’s oil production to climb back to 1.8 mbpd.

According to analysts at FDC, if this is a sign of another spate of militant activities, then Nigeria could be set for an even worse economic crunch that could severely hurt the policies of the government.

They said any renewed attacks on oil facilities now could hurt Nigeria’s oil production and foreign exchange earnings further denting Nigeria’s external reserves.