Militants claim blast of another Nigeria oil pipeline

WARRI, Nigeria – Nigerian militants said they have blown up another crude pipeline owned by Italian oil company Agip.

The Niger Delta Avengers announced the early-morning blast in Bayelsa state in a tweet Friday.

The latest blast comes a few days after the militants rejected the government’s offer of peace talks. Nigeria’s government had ordered the military to halt attacks in the oil-producing south and urged the militants to halt the bombings to allow a dialogue.

But the militants said they will not negotiate.

They also have blown up installations of Dutch-British Shell and U.S.-based oil company Chevron, halving Nigeria’s production to about 1.2 million barrels a day.

The assaults have ended years of relative peace in the delta and have lost Nigeria its place as Africa’s biggest oil producer to Angola.