Shell reports pipeline fire in southern Nigeria

Anglo-Dutch group Shell said fire was raging on Wednesday on two supply pipelines in restive Ogoniland in southern Nigeria, but assured that oil exports had not been disrupted.

"We are trying to put out the fire, but we have not been able to have access. The good news is that production is not affected," Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo told AFP.

He said the cause of the two incidents on the Trans-Niger and Bonny terminal supply pipelines had not been determined.

Shell is Nigeria's largest oil operator, accounting for around half of the country's daily output of 2.6 million barrels at peak production, but unrest in the Niger Delta has slashed production by a quarter since January 2006.

Community unrest forced Shell to quit oil-rich Ogoniland in 1993. The company's supply pipelines which pass through the area are regularly sabotaged by vandals. (AFP)