OREANDA-NEWS. July 06, 2016. Barely 10 days after a 30-day ceasefire deal with the Nigerian government, militants claimed a round of fresh attacks in the country's Niger Delta over the weekend of July 2-3, marking a major setback after weeks of respite that allowed Nigeria's oil output to rebound.

Nigerian oil rebel group Niger Delta Avengers said on July 3 its fighters carried out five separate attacks on oil pipelines operated by state-owned Nigerian Petroleum Development Co. and US firm Chevron over July 2-3.

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The group said its fighters had earlier on July 2 bombed two NPDC major crude oil trunk lines close to Batan flow station in southern Delta state, and also blew up a trunk line owned by state energy firm Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that transports crude to the 125,000 b/d Warri refinery.

However, by the midday July 4, the group's Twitter account had been suspended, and there were no reports of these attacks on the group's website.

The attacks represents a major blow to peace and stability in the oil rich region, after the government and the militants agreed to a 30-day truce almost two weeks ago, allowing President Muhammadu Buhari's administration more time to come up with a comprehensive plan to tackle militancy in the Niger Delta.

When the news of ceasefire was announced, however, the Niger Delta Avengers appeared to deny that it was part of such a truce. There was no immediate comment from Chevron, which had seen its facilities the most attacked in the recent waves of violence launched by the militant group.

A NNPC spokesman said that a team of engineers had been dispatched to investigate the incident. But a spokesman for the ethnic Ijaw Youth Council Udengs Eradiri on July 4 confirmed the attacks, which he said was due to the breakdown of the talks between the government and the rebel group.

"The government has continued to foot drag in taking decisions to implement promises made to the Niger Delta people," he said.

The intensity and longevity of attacks in the Niger Delta have also caused concern among international and domestic oil companies regarding security in the Niger Delta.

Recent news reports cited a spokesman from Italy's Eni as saying that two of its oil workers had been killed in an incident in the Niger Delta in the week ended July 1. However, Eni wasn't immediately available for comment formally on the matter July 4.

Setback to hopes for stability

Nigerian oil output had recovered to 1.9 million b/d in the week ended July 1, according to an official from the NNPC, after output slumped from 2.2 million b/d to as low as 1.4 million b/d in May following a series of militant attacks on production facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers.

Reports of these attacks have shown that, despite a slight increase in Nigerian production in the past month, the situation is still very volatile and the recovery in output could be short lived.

"Rebels from the Niger Delta Avengers made renewed attacks on oil facilities at the weekend, meaning that hopes of any prolonged ceasefire have proven illusory," Commerzbank said in an note July 4. "It remains to be seen how sustainable this higher production level will be."

Analysts had told Platts that the current ceasefire was a "fragile arrangement" and a permanent truce was needed. "The risk of negotiating a quick settlement could lead to more groups arising in the future and this needs to be avoided," a Nigeria-based oil analyst said.

Nigeria is still paying hundreds of millions of dollars a year to former Niger Delta militants under an amnesty program introduced in October 2009 to help end years of attacks.

In the week ended July 1, the country's oil minister for state, Emmanuel Kachikwu said that negotiations with militants were moving in the positive direction and that the government was focused on finding long-term solutions to tackle the Niger Delta crisis.

President Buhari also pleaded with Niger Delta militants in the week ended July 1 to be patient and give his administration more time to rebuild the oil producing region. Buhari, who hails from the north of the country, had followed up on his anti-corruption pledge to cut payments made to Niger Delta militants, which is one of the reasons for the upsurge in violence.

Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement in the week ended July 1 that Buhari had promised to review the government amnesty program.