Shell Petroleum Development Co Ltd on Thursday said it had stopped natural gas deliveries to Nigeria because of a pipeline leak there, dpa reported.
The leak was found Tuesday in one of the major pipelines in the Niger Delta's Rivers State, Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Nigerian unit said.
The shutdown affected about 1.5 billion standard cubic feet, or 42 billion litres, of gas a day, Shell said.
It declared a force majeure, or an unforeseeable event that prevented it from fulfilling a contract, which became effective Wednesday.
The West African country has experienced large-scale pipe vandalism and oil theft.