21 American Oil Workers Taken Hostage in Nigeria

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[epluribus_2]

nothing follows - BREAKING...

[Larry Lucido]

Hmm. Maybe Syria isn't the next one after all.

[Conservababe]

My brother-in-law is the head of a rig there now.

Please ping me for any information.

[July 4th]

Important piece of info: 21 Americans have been taken hostage in a group of 100 foreign oil workers.

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

21 Americans and 35 Brits

[ChadGore]

21 Americans have been taken hostage in a group of 100 foreign oil workers.

This would imply that there are 100 total oil workers taken hostage, and among them are 21 people with American citizenship, is this information correct ?

[AmericanInTokyo]

I am sure the Delta teams and SAS are readying the strike/rescue as we speak (freep).

I believe it is late afternoon there; soon the dark, which we own, will fall.

[Conservababe]

There are many nationalities working on these rigs.

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

That's my understanding along with 35 Brits.

[Constitution Day]

BBC News: Hostages held on Nigerian oil rigs

Hostages held on Nigerian oil rigs

By Dan Isaacs
BBC, Lagos

Negotiations are taking place to free as many as 100 foreign oil workers who are being held hostage on four separate oil rigs off the Nigerian coast.

Local employees took control of the platform after some of their colleagues were sacked, but their specific demands remain unclear.

The siege has been going on for more than a week but has only recently come to public attention.

The nationalities of those being held has not been officially released, but it is believed there are at least 50 Britons and 20 Americans among them.

The US firm operating the rigs, Transocean, is giving away few details and the first indications that any workers were being held at all only emerged following telephone conversations between the hostages and their families.

'Cramped conditions'

This is not unusual - the oil industry tries to keep these situations quiet for as long as possible, hoping to resolve them without too much publicity.

But when approached, Transocean said it was holding discussions with the hostage-takers, and that no-one had been harmed.

However, conditions on board the rig are clearly not good. One hostage has spoken to his wife in Britain by satellite phone describing hot, cramped conditions with little food and limited water.

Another has expressed the fear that the Nigerian navy might use force to end the siege.

It is the first time this year that the occupation of oil rigs off the Nigerian coast has been brought to public attention, but such situations are not uncommon and usually end peacefully after a protracted period of negotiation.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/2983577.stm

Published: 2003/04/28 19:22:18

© BBC MMIII

[July 4th]

That's what the news has implied.

[Conservababe]

The company closed the rig a few weeks ago, but called him back a few weeks later.

This is not the first time this has happened. Usually, according to my brother-in-law, they paddle up to the rig and board. No worker is armed and there is not anywhere to run.

[CaptRon]

Another has expressed the fear that the Nigerian navy might use force to end the siege

Nigeria has a navy?

[flamefront]

Held since April 19th? (CNBC)

[Dog Gone]

Until the government starts punishing the people who repeatedly do this, it will continue to happen. Instead, they wink and nod.

[flamefront]

Yes, since Apr 19th, but unharmed.

From FoxNews:

LAGOS, Nigeria  — Striking Nigerian (search) oil workers have taken about 100 foreign workers hostage on several offshore oil installations, company officials and union workers said Tuesday. The hostages include 21 Americans.The strikers have been holding 97 foreign workers, including 35 Britons, aboard four offshore drilling rigs owned by Houston-based Transocean (search) since April 19. The events occurred in a remote area off the West African nation's coastline.

The rigs were drilling wells on behalf of oil multinationals Royal/Dutch Shell (search) and TotalFina Elf (search).

Western diplomats said the hostages included 21 Americans and 35 Britons. Their conditions were unclear, although there were no initial reports of injuries or deaths.

A source close to the ongoing negotiations between company officials and the strikers told The Associated Press that some of the foreign workers sent e-mails from the facilities to family members and diplomats Monday complaining they had received death threats.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shell spokesman Donald Boham said company officials were involved in the talks. He was unaware of any threats being made.

"The striking Nigerian workers have prevented the foreign workers from leaving the rigs," Boham said without elaborating.

The strikers were protesting a decision by Transocean to use boats instead of helicopters to ferry them from company rigs about 25 miles offshore the restive Niger Delta state of Rivers, said Joseph Akinlaja, secretary-general of Nigeria's largest oil workers' union.

The strikers, whose numbers were unknown, also were angered by company threats to institute disciplinary action against five union members, Akinlaja said.

Sabotage and hostage takings by community activists, labor groups and thugs demanding compensation for land use and alleged environmental damage are relatively common in the Niger Delta, where nearly all of Nigeria's oil is drilled.

Hostages rarely are harmed.

Ethnic and political violence is another frequent hazard in the region. Fighting in March shut down nearly 40 percent of Nigeria's production of 2.2 million barrels a day.

Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil exporters and the fifth largest producer of U.S. oil imports.

[flamefront]

Lots of info available

[killjoy]

Navy SEALs get to do a GOPlat takedown. Wooo hoo! This should be fun.

[JustPiper]

This would imply that there are 100 total oil workers taken hostage, and among them are 21 people with American citizenship, is this information correct ?

Someone important to our family is an oil worker from Indiana, stationed, last I knew in Egypt, but he floats, please update on further news.