Last 15 workers to be likely released on Wednesday: Shell official

Fifteen Shell workers who are still held by Nigerian militants are likely to be released on Wednesday, a Shell official said.

Around 60 workers were taken hostage on Tuesday morning when local militants seized the Shell flow station in Nigerian's oil- rich Niger Delta.

The majority of these kidnapped were released on Tuesday night, while fifteen are still in the hand of the militants. There is a hope that they might likely be released today, a Shell official said, adding that negotiations are going on.

Shell, which produces about half of the total exports of Nigerian crude oil of 2.6 million barrels a day, said there had been no casualties in the hostage-taking which resulted in a flow station shutdown and production loss of some 12,000 barrels of oil per day.

Different sources show that there are no foreigners among the kidnapped.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), one of the main separatist groups in the area, declared that it was not involved in the hostage-taking.

Source: Xinhua