Attack on Shell plant in Nigeria

Militants in Nigeria have blown up an oil flow station belonging to the Shell company in the Niger Delta, causing it to cut some of its production.

It is the fifth attack on the oil industry in recent weeks, reducing output and pressuring global prices.

It is not yet clear which group was responsible for the attack.

Several previous ones have been blamed on supporters of the militant leader Henry Okah, who is currently awaiting trial on treason charges.

The attack came a day after a Nigerian federal court ruled Mr Okah, from the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), should be tried in secret.

Shell accounts for around half of Nigeria's 2.1 million barrels per day of oil output, and has already been forced to cut production because of a pipeline bombing last month.

"A few oil delivery lines are affected and some oil has spilled into the environment," a Shell spokesman said after the latest attack.

"We are mobilising containment booms to stop the spread of oil and have also shut in some production volumes."