By Alan Richardson

EFFORTS WERE continuing yesterday to secure the release of a Crieff oil worker, kidnapped at gunpoint from a rig off the coast of Nigeria at the weekend.

Gordon Gray, from the town’s Ferntower Road, was taken by an armed gang from the Bulford Dolphin rig 40 miles from the lawless Niger Delta region.

They overpowered the personnel on the rig’s guard vessel, took Mr Gray hostage and made off in speedboats.

Foreign Office officials said Embassy staff in the capital Lagos were in contact with Nigerian officials.

A spokeswoman said, “Our discussions and efforts are continuing.”

A spokeswoman for Aberdeen firm Dolphin Drilling, Mr Gray’s employer, which operated the rig, said the situation had not changed.

She said, “Dolphin Drilling’s client in Nigeria is in discussions with the authorities in Nigeria and these discussions are continuing to try and achieve the release of the man.”

She said there was no further update on Mr Gray’s condition, although it was reported on Sunday he was “fit and well.”

The spokeswoman continued, “We have been in touch with his family and remain in contact with them, giving them any support we can.”

The incident is the latest in a spate of kidnappings in Nigeria’s oil-rich but impoverished Niger River delta region.

Nearly 70 foreigners have been taken since the beginning of 2007 but most are released unharmed after a cash payment.

Some of the kidnappers make political demands while other gangs demand only money.