An official from the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has denied the taking of four more hostages by militants in southern Nigeria.

"This is totally untrue," Bisi Ojediran, spokesman of the Shell company, told Xinhua by telephone on Thursday when confirming a report by a local newspaper The Guardian saying four more hostages were taken on Wednesday by militants who attacked a SPDC oil vessel off the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the report, the militants attacked the E. A. Field where Shell is producing oil from its Sea Eagle vessel around 3.00 p.m. on Wednesday, shooting their way to a security vessel -- Liberty Service -- operated by Tidex, an oil servicing company working for the SPDC.

Last week, four foreigners working for the SPDC were taken hostage by an armed group in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, southern Nigeria.

Although reports said the four hostages would be likely released by the end of this week, Ojediran did not show any optimism about it, saying he knew nothing about it.

Shell is the largest biggest player in Nigeria's oil field, accounting for almost half of the west African country's production.

Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa with a daily output of 2.5 million barrels, while Shell accounts for half of the country's oil production, but the situation in the west African country's oil regions in the south is turbulent.

In the oil-rich Niger Delta, local people accuse oil majors of caring about only extracting oil and doing little to help them develop the area.

As a result, they frequently attack oil facilities commit other forms of violence to blackmail the oil companies operating in the area.

Source: Xinhua