Unidentified gunmen kidnapped four foreign oil workers including a Briton from an offshore oilfield in Nigeria operated by Royal Dutch Shell, company officials said today.

It was the second major attack on Shell facilities in Nigeria within three weeks, after militants blew up a big oil export pipeline in December, and caused another disruption in supplies from the world’s eighth largest exporter.

The attackers stormed the floating facility, part of Shell's EA field, in three boats yesterday and opened fire, injuring one person, before abducting the four men, according to Nigerian officials quoted by Reuters.

A Shell spokesman confirmed that "A support vessel was invaded by armed men and four persons were abducted" but declined to give any details about those captured for security reasons.

Nigerian officials and spokesman at the British Embassy in Lagos said that a British national was among those kidnapped. Other reports said that an American and men from Honduras and Bulgaria made up the four hostages.

Today the Nigerian Navy deployed helicopters and gunboats to track down the kidnappers.

Royal Dutch Shell has been in a long-standing dispute with some militants based in villages to the EA field, which produces 120,000 barrels of oil a day.

Workers have been taken hostage twice in the past year over a dispute with local residents, who accuse the company of reneging on a promise to undertake development projects for their impoverished region.

The site is one of the more acessible oilfields in the turbulent Niger Delta, where an estimated 20 million people live in poverty alongside the multi-billion-dollar oil industry. Newer oil fields under development, such as at Bonga and Agbami, are more than 100km (62 miles) from the coast.

Foreign oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria are almost always released after payment of a ransom, although some companies have a policy of not paying up. Nigeria produces about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.

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