Suspected militants have attacked an oil pipeline operated by a local affiliate of Shell in Nigeria’s restive southern Niger Delta region, locals and a community group said on Monday. Militants have attacked oil and gas facilities in the OPEC member’s energy hub over the last few months, cutting the country’s crude production — which stood at 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year — by around 700,000 bpd. Nobody has claimed responsibility for a blast at the Trans Ramos Pipeline near Odimodi, operated by Shell’s joint venture SPDC, which locals said happened in the early hours of Sunday shortly after 1:00 a.m. (08:00 EDT). Shell said the line was closed for repairs. Endoro New-world, a local, said the blast shook nearby homes and created a “ball of fire”. “At sunrise, a group from the community in company of the SPDC surveillance team was able […]