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There was no immediate government response to the claim made in an e-mail message from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main rebel group in the oil-rich delta region.

The message stated MEND had attacked the Shell-run Orubiri flow station in Rivers State in concert with the Niger Delta Volunteer Force.

CNN said the attack was the latest in a series of raids on oil installations in the delta that the rebels have dubbed "Hurricane Barbarossa."

Nigeria is a major crude exporter that has been locked in a long-running battle with rebels who have focused on oil installations in the delta region.

The rebel group's claim Tuesday to have blown up a Shell oil pipeline in the Niger Delta was denied by the Nigerian army, which says it thwarted the sabotage.

The movement has promised war against the oil companies, Voice of America reported Tuesday. In the past two years, production has fallen by a quarter, and Angola has overtaken Nigeria as the biggest oil exporter in Africa because of rebel activities, the U.S. network said.

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