Foreign Oil Companies in Nigeria Undeterred by Threats from

 

By Carrie Giardino

Major oil companies operating in Nigeria's oil-rich southern region say they will not give in to threats of attacks on their facilities and employees by militias².

The threats are being issued by the leader of the Niger Delta³ People's Volunteer Force, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who says all foreigners should leave the Delta region by October 1 or risk attacks.

The group issued a statement accusing Nigeria's largest oil producer, Royal Dutch Shell, of collaborating⁴ with the federal government in what the group calls acts of genocide. The Nigerian government has been cracking down on oil thieves who have been illegally siphoning oil from pipelines⁵ in the region.

A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell, Simon Buerk, says oil production is suffering due to the unrest and threats of attacks in the region.

"We have also, we don't talk in details about security measures, but amongst the things we've done, we have curtailed⁶ movement of staff and supplies on the creeks⁷ by boat. We have had a technical problem at one flow station, which produces about 28,000 barrels of oil per day and because we've restricted movement by water in the interest of safety, we are presently unable to get staff up to that particular flow station to rectify⁸ the problem."

Mr. Buerk says the Niger Delta region of Nigeria accounts for just over 10 percent of the company's total worldwide oil production. But he says Shell would not speculate on the possibility of pulling out of the region, or directly comment on the recent threats.

The violence in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producing nation, has helped spur the recent increase in worldwide oil prices, which have hit record highs.

A spokesman from Rivers State, Emmanuel Okah says the Nigerian government will not allow the militia¹ leader's threat to be carried out and urged foreign oil companies to remain calm and to continue production as usual.

An armed uprising last year in the region led a number of oil companies to temporarily shut down operations, and halted nearly 40 percent of Nigeria's oil output.

Carrie Giardino for VOA news in Abidjan.
注释：
collaborate 合作，通敌
genocide 有计划的灭种和屠杀
unrest 不安的状态，动荡的局面
curtail 缩减，减少
speculate on 考虑，推测

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

5 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

6 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

8 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。