June 3 (Reuters) - Shell Petroleum Development Company ofNigeria Ltd on Friday confirmed signs of a leak in the 48 inchForcados export pipeline at a location between shoreline and theForcados terminal in the western Niger Delta.
Its statement came after a reported attack on the pipelinein the early hours of Friday.
"We are yet to fully evaluate the potential impact anddamage to the pipeline resulting from this latest incident. Wehave however mobilized appropriate oil spill response measures,"Shell said in a statement.
Given this latest incident and the wider security situationin the Niger Delta, Shell said it was unable to determine theprobable timing of the resumption of exports from the Forcadosterminal.
Shell's Forcados crude oil has been under force majeuresince February.
The Niger Delta Avengers militant group claimedresponsibility for recent attacks on Nigeria's oilinfrastructure, promising to cut production to zero. (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by DavidHolmes)