Gunmen kidnap six from Nigerian oil vessel

LAGOS, May 25 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped six foreign oil workers including three Americans from a ship off the coast of Nigeria today, industry sources said, bringing to 22 the number of foreigners held in Africa's top oil producer.

Shots were fired during the abduction by suspected militants in two speed boats, which took place off the coast of the Niger Delta near the Brass crude oil export terminal.

''Three Americans, two British and one South African were abducted by militants on two speed boats,'' one of the sources said, asking not to be named.

They were taken from a pipelaying vessel owned by Texas-based Transcoastal Corp., contracted to Nigerian oil company Conoil, the sources added.

Nigerian authorities and Transcoastal Corp. officials were not available for comment.

The raid came a day after gunmen kidnapped a Polish engineer near the oil city of Warri, also in the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region which is home to Africa's largest oil industry.

Abductions for ransom or to press political demands are frequent in the impoverished delta, where there is widespread resentment against an industry that has extracted billions of dollars in oil wealth but left most people living in poverty.

Oil production from Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest exporter, is down by about 700,000 barrels per day or almost a quarter because of an 18-month surge in violence.

Unrest has peaked in the weeks running up to a change of government due to take place on Tuesday, when President Olusegun Obasanjo hands over to President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua.

Militants demanding regional control over oil revenues, compensation for oil spills and freedom for two jailed leaders from the region, see the handover as an opportunity to extract concessions from the central government.

But crime flourishes in the lawless delta and most abductions are motivated by money. About 100 foreigners have been kidnapped this year and released unharmed after their employers paid ransoms.

REUTERS SV HS1712