Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru said on Saturday his country was following "encouraging leads" in the case of four foreign oil workers taken hostage in the Niger Delta, Reuters reported. "I really do expect that they are released, yes. ... By a week's time we should expect some development and I hope that it is positive," Daukoru told reporters in Vienna. "We are still following some encouraging leads. I do hope that they come to a success," he added. Daukoru's optimistic tone was in stark contrast to a statement on Friday by the militants believed to be holding the hostages -- an American, a Briton, a Bulgarian and a Honduran. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said they did not plan to release their captives any time soon and have consistently denied being in any talks with the government. The militants are demanding more local control over the region's huge oil wealth, the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders and compensation to delta villages for decades of oil pollution. Militants have launched a wave of attacks on oil pipelines and platforms which have forced Royal Dutch Shell, Nigeria's largest oil producer, to cut a tenth of Nigeria's output and withdraw 500 staff. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Thursday talks with the hostage takers were progressing, and played down any effect on investment in Africa's largest oil producer. However, Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said the company would not repair damage to its installations until it held talks with the government on improving security in the world's eighth largest exporter. Dozens of people have been killed in the attacks on two major oil export pipelines and two oil production platforms since Dec. 20.
