Feb 22 (Reuters) - A Lebanese hostage escaped from his captors in the remote creeks of Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta and was not freed as his employer had said.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who had seized the man on Dec. 7, said on Thursday that the Italian oil firm and local authorities who helped him escape on Wednesday would "pay a hefty price for this slight".

Following is a chronology of some recent attacks and kidnappings involving the Nigerian oil industry.

Nov. 7, 2006 - An American and a Briton, working for Petroleum Geo-Services and kidnapped from a survey ship off the coast of Bayelsa state on Nov. 2, are freed.

-- Nov. 22 - A British oil worker is killed when Nigerian troops try to free seven foreigners abducted from an offshore oilfield earlier in the day.

-- Dec. 7 - Eight gunmen kidnap three Italians and one Lebanese man from a residential facility after trying to storm the Agip oil export terminal in Bayelsa state. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claims responsibility. One of the Italians is released on Jan. 18 because of ill health and the Lebanese man escapes on Feb. 21.

-- Dec. 14 - Armed men invade the Nun River logistics base operated by Royal Dutch Shell in Bayelsa state and hold at least five people hostage there.

-- Dec. 18 - Two car bombs rock Port Harcourt, one near the compound of Italy's Agip, the second in the Shell residential compound. There are no casualties.

-- Dec. 21 - Armed militants storm the Obagi field facility in Rivers State, operated by Total, killing three people.

-- Militants plant a car bomb in the Shell residential compound in Port Harcourt. Shell evacuates some expatriate staff from compounds in Port Harcourt, Warri and Bonny Island.

Jan. 12, 2007 - Nine South Korean workers and one Nigerian are freed after being kidnapped when gunmen attacked a base operated by South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction in the Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa on Jan. 10.

-- Jan. 16 - Three people including a Dutch oil worker are killed when their boat, operated by South Korean firm Hyundai, is attacked on its way to the Bonny Island export terminal.

-- Jan. 18 - Gunmen free five Chinese telecom workers, kidnapped on Jan. 5 in Rivers State. One Italian is released in Bayelsa state. Three foreigners remain in captivity.

-- Jan 23 - Gunmen kidnap two engineers, one American and one British, in the southern oil city Port Harcourt. The Briton is released on Feb. 7 and the American on Feb 17.

-- Feb 4 - Nine men working for the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC), which was doing work for Shell in Bayelsa state, are released. They were kidnapped on Jan. 25.

-- Feb 6 - Gunmen abduct a Filipino worker on the road between Port Harcourt and Owerri.

-- Feb 7 - Gunmen kidnap a Filipina woman in Port Harcourt, the first known abduction of a woman in the region.

-- A Frenchman, working on contract for oil giant Total, is kidnapped in Port Harcourt.

-- Feb 13 - Militants release all 24 Filipino crew members, who were captured when their cargo ship, belonging to German line Baco-Liner, was attacked on Jan. 20.

-- Feb 18 - Gunmen kidnap two Croatian and one Montenegrin oil worker, employees of Hydrodrive Nigeria, an offshore oil services company, in the Iwofe district of Port Harcourt.

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