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| ANOTHER Thing that Can't Happen in the Hydrogen-Economy:
Nigerian Militants Threaten Oil Tankers
By OSMOND CHIDI , 02.19.2006, 04:48 PM
Militants who kidnapped nine foreign oil workers in a flurry of attacks that forced a 20 percent cut in
Nigerian crude exports vowed Sunday to escalate the violence, threatening for the first time to fire rockets
at international oil tankers.
While the military said tankers in Nigerian waters were safe, the West African nation is reeling from militant
attacks that blasted oil and gas pipelines Saturday, damaged a key oil loading terminal and halted the flow
of more than 500,000 barrels a day.
Nigeria is Africa's leading oil exporter and the United States' fifth-largest supplier, usually exporting 2.5
million barrels daily.
Efie Alari, who identified himself as commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta,
told The Associated Press by telephone Sunday his group was poised to attack foreign oil tankers offshore.
"We'll use our rockets on the ships to stop them from taking our oil," Alari said. His identity could not be
independently verified, but the call came from a number used previously by the group based in the oil region
of the Niger River delta.
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