Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Eight foreign oil workers taken hostage have been released unharmed after being held captive for two days. |
Implications | The latest hostage-taking will cause great concern to IOCs operating in the Niger Delta, since militants used speedboats to storm the offshore oil rig. |
Outlook | The safety of the eight foreign oil workers was paramount, and they were released unharmed. However, this latest bout of hostage-taking marks a further deterioration in the security situation in the Niger Delta, with militants showing that they have the means to attack offshore facilities. |
Foreign Oil Workers Kidnapped and Released
Eight foreign oil workers who were kidnapped and held hostage for two days have been released unharmed. The men were taken captive in the early morning of 2 June, when militants arrived in speedboats and 20-30 boarded an oil rig. There were over 80 workers on the rig during the raid, and shots were fired. One American, six Britons and one Canadian were taken hostage, but no one was injured.
The drilling rig, Bulford Drilling, is located on the OML-122 oilfield, situated 60 km off the Nigerian coast, and is operated by an affiliate of Fred Olsen Energy and Dolphin Drilling for Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria Limited.
The most worrying aspects of the kidnapping are that it took place offshore and that militants used speedboats to reach the oil rig. The ease with which the militants were able to board the rig will cause great concern to security observers and IOCs, since it had been thought that offshore locations would not be as susceptible to attack as facilities nearer to the Nigerian mainland.
Profitable Tactics
The kidnappings received extensive media attention and demonstrated again the effectiveness of a strategy of taking foreign workers hostage. Such events receive coverage across the world, and taking foreign oil workers captive gives kidnappers very useful collateral to use in their negotiations.
As soon as it became apparent that foreign oil workers had been abducted, an attempt was made to reach a deal for their safe return. The oil companies involved promised to provide scholarships to students and employment opportunities in the oil industry. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed before the hostages were released.
This was the first case of foreign oil workers being kidnapped in nearly a month (see Nigeria: 12 May 2006: Three Foreign Oil Workers Taken Hostage in Nigeria, Then Released). However, there were several cases earlier this year involving hostages being held for extended periods of time (see Nigeria: 12 January 2006: Shell Shuts In Offshore Nigerian Field After Workers Kidnapped, Nigeria: 2 March 2006: Some Hostages Set Free in Nigeria; More Oil Sector Attacks Threatened and Nigeria: 27 March 2006: Three Foreign Oil Workers Released by Niger Delta Militants).
MEND Not Involved
The militant group The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has claimed responsibility for the majority of attacks this year, announced that it had no role in the latest kidnapping. In previous attacks, MEND has alerted the media when it has not been responsible for the attack, which has generated media attention (see Nigeria: 11 May 2006: U.S. Oil Executive Shot Dead in Nigeria - MEND Denies Involvement). In an email to Global Insight, a MEND spokesperson using the familiar pseudonym Jomo Gbomo stated that the group played no part in the attack and confirmed that it has changed its direction. It stated: 'We will no longer take hostages in future attacks on oil facilities'. However, MEND did warn that when it returned, it would make its presence felt, stating: 'Any persons found on facilities attacked by our fighters in future will have themselves to blame as we have severely warned oil workers to steer clear of the Niger Delta.'
In the email, MEND claims that the hostage activity was performed purely to extract more money from the Bayelsa state government and oil companies operating in the Niger Delta.
Outlook and Implications
The safety of the foreign oil workers was of paramount importance, and their release will reassure the oil industry in Nigeria, particularly since they were unharmed and violence does not seem to have been used during the abduction. However, this attack on an offshore oil rig has taken hostage-taking to a new level, one that will worry IOCs greatly, since they believed that they would at least be able to continue production offshore, even if their facilities onshore in the Niger Delta were unsafe. Overall, this is another blow to security in the region and will put pressure on the Nigerian federal government to increase security arrangements for IOCs in the Delta. This activity appears to have been a smartly co-ordinated attack to generate further publicity for the plight of the indigenes of the Niger Delta and a quick money-making scheme for those involved. This could easily happen again in the future.
However, as MEND has warned, its return to the political scene will be quite different, since it is no longer interested in the cumbersome strategy of taking foreign oil workers captive. MEND will likely attack IOC facilities and rupture pipelines, forcing more oil to be shut in, a tactic that is more financially disruptive to oil companies. MEND's return will be a departure from recent actions by other Niger Delta militants, since MEND has already stated that it is ready to use violence. An increase in violence in the Niger Delta will result in further regional instability, causing the region's security to deteriorate ahead of next year's presidential elections.