U.S. energy firm Chevron said on Monday it had suspended production from an oil pipeline in Nigeria's Delta state, which was breached on Friday. Chevron said it was investigating the damage to its Dibi-Abiteye pipeline but it did not say how much production would be lost from shutting down the stream. "We have suspended production to minimize environmental impact and have informed relevant government agencies and other stakeholders," Chevron said in a statement. "The breach is being investigated and we are reviewing our operations." A militant faction in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta said on Saturday it was behind the attacks on oil facilities operated by U.S. energy firm Chevron and Italian oil company Agip. Nigeria is home to Africa's largest energy industry but its oil and gas output has been held back for years by strikes on pipelines and infrastructure by military groups who say they are fighting for a more even distribution of the oil wealth. The line between militancy and crime is blurred. Gang leaders have grown rich on the spoils of kidnapping for ransom and the theft of industrial quantities of oil. Previous militant campaigns have knocked out a significant chunk of the OPEC-member's oil output, currently averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), and cost it as much as $1 billion a month in lost revenues. Source: Reuters