NIGERIA: First day of a three-day stoppage by Nigerian oil workers protesting against violence

A strike by Nigerian oil workers stopped shipments from two big export terminals on Wednesday (September 13), the first day of a three-day stoppage by unions protesting about violence against oil workers, shipping agents said. Thousands of oil union members stayed away from offices, oilfields and ports in Africa's top producer and queues formed at filling stations as Nigerians prepared for fuel shortages. Tanker loadings at two major terminals, Brass River and Escravos, were suspended because of the strike, shipping agents said. Operations appeared to continue normally at other ports, and output was not immediately hit as non-unionised staff stepped in to cover, industry officials said. The two terminals, operated by Italy's ENI and U.S. giant Chevron, normally export about 350,000 barrels per day. Companies can produce normally even when exports stop for a few days because they have huge storage tanks at the terminals. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest exporter of oil, shipping 2.4 million barrels a day to refineries in Europe, America and Asia. Unions are trying to put pressure on the government to crack down on a growing wave of attacks against oil workers by militants and criminals in the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands that is home to Africa's largest oil industry. "The strike is to call the attention of the government to the problems of oil workers in the Delta, it's also to sensitize Nigerians that the insecurity in the Niger Delta which surrounds the production of crude oil is becoming too much, it's criminal," said Elijah Okougbo, General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). Union leaders met senior government officials and oil company executives in the capital Abuja on Wednesday afternoon to discuss their demands for more security. Unions have threatened to stage an indefinite strike at a later date if the government fails to act. A Nigerian worker was killed on Tuesday, the second violent death of an oil worker in two months. Pirates stormed the ship where the man worked as a crew member at an offshore oilfield operated by U.S. energy giant Chevron. The killings follow a wave of kidnappings and attacks on oil installations early this year, which forced the industry to evacuate thousands of workers and reduce output by a quarter. Many inhabitants of the delta resent the oil industry, which provides the bulk of Nigeria's wealth but has brought few benefits to them. This has fuelled an armed insurrection by militants demanding greater regional control over its resources.

ITN Source | September 15, 2006

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