(Updates with quotes and background)

K-DERE, Nigeria, May 16 (Reuters) - Protesters whose occupation of a major oil pipeline hub cut Nigerian output by 170,000 barrels per day left the facility on Wednesday morning and said they would let Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> reopen it.

The occupation had raised to almost 900,000 bpd the volume of Nigerian oil supply hit by violence, equivalent to about one third of the country's total capacity, and had helped lift world oil prices.

"We have left the place out of respect for our elders and chiefs," Teddy Penedibebari, who led the protest, told Reuters.

"The manifold is still locked at the moment but Shell can come and reopen it," he added.

The protesters had invaded the complex on May 10 to demand a stake in the oil flowing through Ogoniland, an area of the Niger Delta where Shell suspended oil production 14 years ago because of popular protests.

A Shell spokesman said he had no information.

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