LAGOS, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Oil multinational Royal Dutch/Shell said on Thursday an oil leak had occurred in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region, but the volume of spill could not bedetermined as the company's investigation efforts were frustrated by community militants.

    The leak was reported along the 18-inch Assa-Rumuekpe pipeline at Egbeda community in the southeastern Nigerian state of Rivers on Nov. 27, said Shell, the biggest player in Nigerian oil fields,in a statement.

    But all efforts, including usual joint investigation visit, by the company's Nigerian subsidiary the Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC), mobilized to the leak points, had been prevented by community militants since Nov. 29, the statement said.

    Therefore, the SPDC was "unable to determine cause of the incident and volume of spill at this point," it said.

    Meanwhile, "some unknown persons set fire to two leak points while a spill containment contractor SPDC dispatched to site was denied access and chased away by the youths," said the statement.

    "The militants have also seized two SPDC vehicles...The Rivers State Government agencies have been approached to intervene in theinterest of safety of lives and the environment."

    Vandalizing oil pipeline is common in the Niger Delta region, where the majority of Nigeria's over 2.5 million daily barrels of oil are produced.

    The cause of pipeline-vandalism is considered as lack of jobs and poverty among those people whose average income is less than adollar a day. Enditem