Nigerian troops dislodge militants at oil facility

YENAGOA, Nigeria, June 21 (Reuters) Nigerian troops today dislodged militants who were occupying an Italian-operated oil facility in the Niger Delta in a gunfight, the army said.

It was unclear if there were casualties in the battle for Ogbainbiri flow station, operated by Italy's Eni, where 27 people including 11 soldiers had been held since the facility was overrun on Sunday.

''There was fighting. We dislodged them. They have been flushed out of the place,'' said Major Omale Ochagwuba, spokesman for the military task force in the delta.

He declined to provide more details.

The company was not immediately available for comment.

Agip was forced to reduce oil output by 37,000 barrels a day by the invasion, bringing to 711,000 barrels a day the total Nigerian oil supply affected by militant attacks.

The invasion was a setback to moves by the newly-inaugurated president, Umaru Yar'Adua, to ease tensions in the anarchic southern oil region.

REUTERS SYU HS1659