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 LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Militants holding nine foreign oil-workers hostage refused to negotiate directly with the Nigerian government Tuesday, while crude oil prices climbed on worries that the country's recent pipeline attacks could disrupt global supply.
The West African nation — the United States' fifth-largest oil supplier — is reeling from weekend attacks in which militants blasted oil and gas pipelines and sabotaged a key oil-loading terminal belonging to Shell Oil Co. That and an earlier attack have forced Shell to halt the flow of about 455,000 barrels a day, about one-fifth of daily output.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said there have been no negotiations for the release of the hostages — three Americans, two Egyptians, two Thais, one Briton and one Filipino — who were seized Saturday. The militants called for independent negotiators.
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