(Updates with details) By Austin Ekeinde PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Villagers who invaded four oil pumping stations in Nigeria were set to leave imminently after securing promises of more benefits from Western oil companies, authorities said on Thursday. The invasion on Wednesday forced Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and Chevron <CVX.N> to shut the four facilities, reducing output from the world's eighth largest exporter by about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd). Oil company, government and community leaders said they held a meeting on Wednesday night at which all sides agreed that the protesters should leave the sites in Rivers State. But the occupation continued into Thursday evening as they haggled over the fine print. "We agreed to vacate the facilities on certain conditions. The oil companies must empower us now to give us the contract to supply them with speed boats," said Dan Opusingi, a traditional ruler of the Kula community. The protest was designed to stop companies favouring outsiders with contracts and other benefits, he added. "The meeting resolved that the people would leave today. We are working towards restarting operations tomorrow," a Shell source said. Nigerian oil exports are frequently disrupted by violence. Militant attacks have already forced Shell to shut oilfields pumping 500,000 bpd since February in the western delta. Shell and Chevron were pumping about 62,000 bpd from three of the invaded facilities -- Ekulama II, Belema and Robertkiri. The fourth, the 9,000-bpd Ekulama I, was already closed by fighting between militants and troops earlier this month. The invasion underlined oil industry fears that violence, which hit operations at the western end of the vast wetlands region earlier this year, was spreading east to Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, which pump about 1 million bpd. HOSTAGES Seven foreign oil workers were released unharmed on Saturday after an unprecedented raid on a compound for contractors working for U.S. giant Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> in Akwa Ibom state. In a series of attacks in February, militants with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta forced Shell to shut down all its oil production in the western delta. Although that group appears to have waned, violence by other groups has been on the rise and analysts expect the situation to worsen in the run-up to general elections in April. In its third quarter results released on Thursday, Shell said it expected the loss of 500,000 bpd in the western delta to continue at least until the end of 2006. "No firm date can be given for the re-start of the production nor is it possible to predict the rate of ramp up to full production. Restricted access in the area continues to impact the drilling programme for the future, and the progress of new projects," the company said. Violence in the Niger Delta is rooted in poverty, corruption and lawlessness. Many residents of the impoverished region resent the multibillion-dollar industry which has damaged their environment but brought them few benefits. However, the violence has taken on a momentum of its own. Turf wars over control of a lucrative trade in stolen crude, abductions for ransom, sabotage and violence fomented for political ends are all part of the equation.
