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Nigeria's oil exports flowing despite strike: firms
REUTERS/George Esiri
Ijaw militants wait to claim the remains of their dead at a hospital in Warri, in the volatile Niger Delta region September 2, 2006.By Joel Olatunde Agoi
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 09 14 06
Nigeria's crude oil exports flowed without disruption Wednesday despite the start of a three-day warning strike by the country's two main oil unions, industry officials said.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) called the stoppages to protest unrest in the volatile Niger Delta region, home to the country's massive oil wealth.
"Oil exports are not affected. Loading of crude is going on at the exports terminal," a spokesman for US oil giant ExxonMobil told AFP.
He said the company and the Nigerian military had beefed up security at oil facilities to forestall any disruptions.
A spokesman for the Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell also said the strike had not had any negative impact on the firm's operations.
"As far as I know, there has not been any problem with our operation. Our plants are up and running," he said.
The past eights months have seen an upsurge in violence by separatist militants seeking local control of the country's oil resources for the 14-million-strong ethnic Ijaws of the region, the country's fourth largest ethnic group.
More than 40 expatriates have been kidnapped but later released, while around 30 Nigerian security officers and oil workers have been killed.
A PENGASSAN official, however, told AFP Wednesday's strike was effective.
"We have mobilised our members to observe the warning strike. The feelers from the fields show that the action is effective," she said.
She said a meeting was under way Wednesday in Abuja between the government and union leaders to stop the action.
"Right now, our leaders are in Abuja for talks with the ministry of labour to stop the strike. This is a last-minute effort which will fail," she said.
A meeting called on Monday to stop the work stoppages ended in a deadlock, which sparked panic buying of fuel by motorists who formed long queues at petrol stations, especially in Lagos, the commercial capital.
Previous oil strikes in the oil-rich country usually dragged for several days and even weeks, leading to a scarcity of petrol for its 130-million-strong population.
Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, is the world's sixth biggest crude exporter with 2.6 million barrels per day, but a quarter of that figure is currently lost to unrest in the region.
AFP 13 1105 GMT 09 06
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