. . HUMANS on SYSTEMATICALLY Downgrading themselves AUTOMATICALLY!! ... THE SAME KIND OF ....“systematic ethnic and religious cleansing” in BELIEVING that they are truly FULLY ENTITLED ! ...or Justified in their own way & system of ACCOUNTABILITY or RESPONSIBILITY !
The move by Pengassan increased the pressure on the government, which depends on oil sales for more than 80 percent of its revenue. Despite four days of mass action that have paralyzed the country, Jonathan has so far refused to reinstate the subsidy, whose removal on Jan. 1 caused gas prices to jump 120 percent.
“Pengassan shall be forced to go ahead and apply the bitter option of ordering the systematic shutting down of oil and gas production with effect from?.?.?.?00.00 hours of Sunday January 15 if the federal government of Nigeria fails to yield to the popular agitation of Nigerians on [the] unacceptable approach to fuel subsidy removal,” the oil union said in a statement.
A smaller oil workers’ union, Nupeng, is already on strike and has withdrawn its members from oil rigs. So far, crude production has been unaffected, since many processes are automated and facilities well-guarded. It is also unclear whether Pengassan workers would be able to stop output from Nigeria’s offshore wells. Nonetheless, any
significant reduction in output will hit an already struggling economy.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, with an output of more than 2 million barrels a day of premium low-sulfur crude, sent mainly to the United States, India and Brazil. Any disruption would help to drive prices higher at a time when energy costs are already expensive due to growing fears about the building confrontation between Western countries and Iran.
Oil traders said, however, that they were more concerned about the threat of attacks on pipelines and oil terminals than about the effect of the strike. Traditionally, strike-related outages have been short in Nigeria.
Fears over Iran pushed benchmark Brent oil prices above $113 a barrel on Thursday.
The strike has caused major disruptions to the Nigerian economy. Lamido Sanusi, the central bank governor, told Reuters that the strike was costing the country about 100 billion naira, or $617 million, a day and that the removal of the subsidies, which has seen gas prices double, would cause inflation to rise to 14 or 15 percent by the middle of this year, up from 10.5 percent currently.
The strikes have widespread support in Nigeria and have tapped into long-standing grievances over graft and government waste.
Tens of thousands of people have attended nationwide rallies daily since the protests began on Monday, with organizers using social networking sites to rally support. Banks, shops and schools remained shut Thursday, although small vendors and hawkers were still operating. Domestic flights were on hold, and youths armed with sticks and rocks have prevented motorists from moving freely in cities such as Lagos. Ports have also been affected.
Until now, the unions have insisted that the government reinstate the full fuel subsidy. But Elijah Okougboh, general secretary of the Nupeng oil union, told the Financial Times that there was room for compromise.
“We must negotiate,” he said. “If anything happens to the oil and gas industry it will destroy Nigeria.”
The government spent more than $8 billion on the fuel subsidy last year, which it said was unsustainable. Nigeria has to import most of its gas because of the rundown state of its domestic refineries.
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ReplyDelete. HUMANS on SYSTEMATICALLY Downgrading themselves AUTOMATICALLY!! ... THE SAME KIND OF ....“systematic ethnic and religious cleansing” in BELIEVING that they are truly FULLY ENTITLED ! ...or Justified in their own way & system of ACCOUNTABILITY or RESPONSIBILITY !
The move by Pengassan increased the pressure on the government, which depends on oil sales for more than 80 percent of its revenue. Despite four days of mass action that have paralyzed the country, Jonathan has so far refused to reinstate the subsidy, whose removal on Jan. 1 caused gas prices to jump 120 percent.
ReplyDelete“Pengassan shall be forced to go ahead and apply the bitter option of ordering the systematic shutting down of oil and gas production with effect from?.?.?.?00.00 hours of Sunday January 15 if the federal government of Nigeria fails to yield to the popular agitation of Nigerians on [the] unacceptable approach to fuel subsidy removal,” the oil union said in a statement.
A smaller oil workers’ union, Nupeng, is already on strike and has withdrawn its members from oil rigs. So far, crude production has been unaffected, since many processes are automated and facilities well-guarded. It is also unclear whether Pengassan workers would be able to stop output from Nigeria’s offshore wells. Nonetheless, any
significant reduction in output will hit an already struggling economy.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, with an output of more than 2 million barrels a day of premium low-sulfur crude, sent mainly to the United States, India and Brazil. Any disruption would help to drive prices higher at a time when energy costs are already expensive due to growing fears about the building confrontation between Western countries and Iran.
Oil traders said, however, that they were more concerned about the threat of attacks on pipelines and oil terminals than about the effect of the strike. Traditionally, strike-related outages have been short in Nigeria.
Fears over Iran pushed benchmark Brent oil prices above $113 a barrel on Thursday.
The strike has caused major disruptions to the Nigerian economy. Lamido Sanusi, the central bank governor, told Reuters that the strike was costing the country about 100 billion naira, or $617 million, a day and that the removal of the subsidies, which has seen gas prices double, would cause inflation to rise to 14 or 15 percent by the middle of this year, up from 10.5 percent currently.
The strikes have widespread support in Nigeria and have tapped into long-standing grievances over graft and government waste.
Tens of thousands of people have attended nationwide rallies daily since the protests began on Monday, with organizers using social networking sites to rally support. Banks, shops and schools remained shut Thursday, although small vendors and hawkers were still operating. Domestic flights were on hold, and youths armed with sticks and rocks have prevented motorists from moving freely in cities such as Lagos. Ports have also been affected.
Until now, the unions have insisted that the government reinstate the full fuel subsidy. But Elijah Okougboh, general secretary of the Nupeng oil union, told the Financial Times that there was room for compromise.
“We must negotiate,” he said. “If anything happens to the oil and gas industry it will destroy Nigeria.”
The government spent more than $8 billion on the fuel subsidy last year, which it said was unsustainable. Nigeria has to import most of its gas because of the rundown state of its domestic refineries.
— Financial Times
Javier Blas in London contributed to this report.
Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/nigerian-leader-in-crisis-talks-over-strike/2012/01/12/gIQAvP0QuP_story.html
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