The Nigerian unit of Royal Dutch/Shell said today it had suffered an oil spill at one of its facilities in Ogoniland.
Shell, which has not produced oil from Ogoniland since 1993, said in a statement the spill was at the Yorla oilfield where it was forced to halt operations because of community unrest.
Shell said the cause of the spill and the volume of crude involved had not been determined. It was talking with authorities to gain access for spill experts it wanted to send to the site.
A Shell spokesman in Lagos said that similar spills in the past were a result of unknown people tampering with facilities.
Shell was producing just below 30,000 barrels per day from Ogoniland before a militant campaign by Ogoni people alleging exploitation and ecological damage forced it to quit.