Protesters ended a six-day occupation of an oil pipeline hub in Nigeria on Wednesday, saying Royal Dutch Shell was free to resume pumping 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) that was shut by the protest.
Oil prices tumbled on news of the end to the protest in the Ogoni area of Rivers State, which raised to about 900,000 bpd the tally of Nigerian oil supply hit by violence, equivalent to about one third of the country’s total capacity.
“We have left the place out of respect for our elders and chiefs,” protest leader Teddy Penedibebari told Reuters.
“The manifold is still locked at the moment, but Shell can come and reopen it,” he added.
London Brent crude oil futures dropped by almost a dollar from an early high of $68.54, and June Brent was 22 cents lower at $67.89 at 1535 GMT.
A Shell spokesman said he had no information.
The protesters had invaded the complex on May 10 to demand a stake in the oil flowing through Ogoni, an area of the Niger Delta where Shell suspended oil production 14 years ago because of popular protests.
They said their elders had promised to resolve the dispute in talks with Shell within a week.
Unrest in the world’s eighth largest oil exporting nation has surged since last month’s general elections, which were so marred by rigging and violence that international observers said they were not credible.
Earlier on Wednesday, unidentified gunmen blew up the country home of vice president-elect Goodluck Jonathan in nearby Bayelsa state and sacked a police station, killing two officers, police said.
Police spokesman Haz Iwendi said the house in Otueke was partially burned but Jonathan’s family were unharmed.
Jonathan, who is still the governor of Bayelsa state, is due to be inaugurated as vice president on May 29.
It was unclear whether the arson attack was related to a call by a prominent militant group for a month of “mayhem” to press their demands for more autonomy in the southern oil producing Niger Delta.
May172007