Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday it has reopened its Otumara and Escravos flow stations, which were shut down early this week following a protest by some women in Ugburodo, a company spokesman said in a statement.
Spokesman Tony Okonedo said the women ended their occupation of the flow stations on Thursday after successful dialogue among stakeholders including government and community representatives.
Shell said it was forced to shut down the flow stations in the southern Delta state on Tuesday when the women disrupted production in a protest aimed at calling the government's attention to the lack of development in their community.
Okonedo, who told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday that dialogue was being employed to end the action by the women, added that both flow stations and a third at Saghara which were affected by the protest have returned to production. He didn't provide the volume of production that was affected by the stoppage, adding "We do not give daily production updates."
Shell is the biggest oil and gas producer in Nigeria.
Last week, a group of Ugburodo women blocked access to a Chevron Corp. (CVX 74.93, +1.60, +2.18%) natural-gas pipeline to protest the poor living conditions of people in the community. The women explained that they wanted Chevron to clean up the environment and supply them with electricity.
Between 2006 and 2009, armed militants and other groups attacked oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta, where nearly all of Nigeria's oil is produced, and cut the country's oil exports by around one million barrels a day, according to government officials.
An amnesty granted by late President Umaru Yar'Adua to militants in the region has stemmed violence in the region and oil production has increased to more than two million barrels a day.
