Up to 20 workers kidnapped in Nigerian oil delta

LAGOS, May 3 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped up to 20 foreign workers in three attacks in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region but some were released within hours after a mix-up, authorities and militants said today.

Militants belonging to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) abducted up to eight oil workers from an Italian-operated offshore oilfield, but the group's leader said they were all released today afternoon.

World oil prices rose on news of the kidnappings, but fell heavily after MEND said it was releasing the captives.

Separately, three Koreans and eight Filipinos were seized from a power plant construction site in Rivers State by suspected ransom seekers, diplomats said. A Dutch man was also taken from a bar near Warri in Delta State yesterday night.

MEND's self-styled leader, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo, told Reuters he ordered the release of the workers seized from the oilfield because he did not want any more hostages, having taken six from a US-operated oilfield on Tuesday.

''We did not intend to take any more hostages, at least not just now,'' he said, adding that they were released at 1820 hrs IST and were on their way to regional capital Port Harcourt.

Authorities could not immediately confirm the release.

It was also not immediately clear if Saipem and SBM Offshore , the operators of the 50,000 barrel-per-day Okono/Okpoho oilfield, shut off production because of the raid.

The seizures are the latest in a series of militant raids on the oil industry since February last year that have led to oil output being reduced by 600,000 barrels per day, or a fifth of Nigerian production capacity.

Saipem parent company Eni confirmed six hostages were taken: one British, one Australian, one Polish, two Croats and one Romanian. Gbomo said there were eight.

''They (MEND fighters) may have judged that the hostages were of more value than the destruction of the facility. They must obey my instructions. They have all been released within the last five minutes,'' Gbomo said.

KIDNAPPINGS SURGE The three Koreans taken in the power plant attack were senior managers of Daewoo Engineering who had just arrived in Nigeria, a security source in Nigeria said. Gbomo said MEND was not involved in the power plant raid.

Kidnappings of foreigners have increased sharply in the past 12 months in the world's eighth largest oil exporter, where militancy is fuelled by poverty, lawlessness, corruption and struggles for control of a lucrative oil theft business.

Hostages are almost always treated well and released unharmed.

On Tuesday, MEND seized six foreign oil workers from an offshore oilfield operated by Chevron. The company reduced oil output there by 15,000 barrels per day.

The group said those kidnappings were to serve as a disclaimer to reports that it was in support of Nigeria's president-elect Umaru Yar'Adua and his deputy Goodluck Jonathan, who is also a state governor from the delta region.

MEND was also behind the attacks in February 2006 that shut 600,000 barrels per day of oil production, mostly operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell said today it was preparing to restart those oilfields, despite MEND's warnings to stay away.

REUTERS RS RAI2038