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Forum / Naijapals Base (Metro life) / Nigeria: Key US oil supplier may cut off spigot Sunday |
on: 15-01-2012 08:13 AM
| NEW YORK (AP) — One of the biggest suppliers of oil to the United States may shut off the spigot this weekend, pushing crude and gasoline prices higher for Americans.
Nigeria, which supplies 8 percent of U.S. oil imports, could see production halted if striking workers walk off the job Sunday. Workers are demanding the return of a vital government fuel subsidy that has kept gasoline prices low in that impoverished and restive nation of 160 million people.
It's unclear how much of Nigeria's production would be affected. At worst, the country's 20,000 unionized oil workers could take as much as 2.4 million barrels of daily crude production off the market, striking at the heart of Nigeria's oil-dependent economy.
Even if strikers are only partially successful, fears of tightened global supplies could raise oil prices by $5-$10 per barrel on futures markets next week. Gasoline prices would follow, rising by as much as 10 cents per gallon and forcing U.S. drivers to spend an additional $36 million a day at the pump.
Gasoline now costs $3.39 per gallon (89 cents a liter) after rising 11 cents since the start of the year. Experts predict the national average could rise as high as $4.25 per gallon ($1.12 a liter) in 2012.
The Nigerian government already has offered a smaller, temporary fuel subsidy and will meet with union leaders on Saturday. The strike could be called off but protesters have promised to halt production if they don't get the full, $8 billion subsidy restored.
Disruptions would have a long-term impact on Nigeria's economy. Union president Babatunde Ogun said it could take six months to a year to restart oil fields once they're shut down.
"If everything comes to a standstill, the government will budge," Ogun told reporters this week in Lagos.
The threat to shut off oil production is the latest move by protesters after a week of violent, anti-government clashes throughout the country. The strike began Monday to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to abandon the fuel subsidy.
"It's going to be a showdown this weekend," in Nigeria, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said. "You can only hope that cooler heads will prevail."
It's hard to predict how effective a national oil worker strike would be.
Oil production facilities are usually automated, allowing them to pump oil out of the ground without anyone at the platform. But if something breaks, if the pressure in the well fluctuates, or if other problems occur that cause an automatic system shutdown, there wouldn't be anyone there to get production running again.
It's likely oil companies operating in the region —Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni S.P.A. — would simply shutter their platforms and wait for political tensions to subside, Gheit said. Oil companies could still export oil from storage terminals on the coast; that is, if union workers at the terminals stay on the job.
The price of oil already has swung up and down this year because of supply concerns in another oil-rich part of the world, the Persian Gulf. Iran, the world's third-largest crude exporter, is sparring with the U.S. and Europe over its nuclear program.
While Iranian imports are banned in the U.S. because of long-standing tensions, the country supplies 2.2 million barrels per day to the rest of the world, including Europe. Meanwhile, Libya is quickly restarting oil fields that were shut down during the anti-government uprising last year. It has about 1 million barrels per day back online, and it expects to increase production to pre-rebellion levels of 1.6 million barrels per day by mid-year.
Oil prices fell by $2.86 this week to end at $98.70 per barrel in New York. Prices dropped as Europe delayed a decision to ban Iranian imports. But they could snap back up given the variety of geopolitical problems affecting world supplies, including the threat of a Nigerian oil worker strike.
The U.S. government expects the price of oil to average $100.25 per barrel this year.
Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, said oil could jump by $5-$10 per barrel if the strike begins Sunday. Nigeria ranks behind Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela in oil exports to the U.S. It produces a valuable crude variety that is easier and cheaper to turn into gasoline than others.
Investors, who have been numbed from years of political unrest in Nigeria that included sabotage, thievery, environmental protests and other operating problems, may wait to see how the government works with the union. Nigerian oil always seems to be under a perpetual threat of some kind, Lynch said.
"Though this time seems more serious," he said.
Nigerians have been upset for years as international oil production damaged the environment with little apparent domestic benefits. One of the only visible perks was the fuel subsidy. Removing it forced gasoline prices to jump overnight from $1.70 per gallon to at least $3.50 per gallon — a crippling increase for a nation where most people live on less than $2 a day.
The government still seems determined to have its way, Barclays analyst Helima Croft said, but an oil field strike would be a game changer. If workers can shut down oil production, it's only a matter of time before declining oil revenues will force the government to cave, she said.
"Any disruptions in either oil production or exports would severely constrain government activities and its ability to meet its obligations," Croft said.
Eighty percent of the country's revenue comes from oil.
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Follow Chris Kahn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP
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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
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Forum / Naijapals Base (Metro life) / Nigeria fuel protests: Strike to continue despite talks |
on: 13-01-2012 07:16 AM
| Nigeria’s main unions say talks with the president over the removal of fuel subsidies were positive, but that strikes would continue.
The head of one of the largest unions said discussions had been “fruitful” and would resume on Saturday.
Unions have threatened to bring oil and gas production to a halt unless the government reinstates the subsidies.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil exporter, depends on the commodity for 80% of its state revenues.
Strikes over the move, which has doubled petrol prices, began on Monday.
‘Shift ground’
Many poverty-stricken Nigerians are angry as they see subsidised fuel as the only benefit they get from their country’s oil wealth.
But President Goodluck Jonathan, who announced the move on 1 January, says it will save billions of dollars which can then be put into public services.
Thursday’s meeting was the first time Mr Jonathan had become directly involved since the industrial action began.
At least nine union representatives participated in the talks with the president, vice-president, finance minister, senate president and seven state governors.
“We had fruitful discussions, both sides have agreed to shift ground. We will be meeting again on Saturday,” said Abdulwaheed Omar, president of Nigeria Labour Congress, one of the country’s two biggest unions.
“Until we conclude the discussions, we maintain the status quo,” he added, according to AFP.
The meeting came hours after the country’s biggest oil workers’ union Pengassan said it would aim to shut down the country’s oil and gas production from Sunday, as part of the national strike.
“We are hereby notifying the Federal Government of Nigeria… that 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… 0000 hours of Sunday 15 January,” it said in a statement.
While strikes this week have paralysed the country and brought tens of thousands onto the streets, oil workers have so far not moved to halt output of crude.
Some analysts have suggested that the unions would not be able to halt production, but the authorities have expressed concern about the prospect.
“If they go ahead to carry out their threat, that action will worsen our economic problem which the government is trying to solve,” Information Minister Labaran Maku told Reuters on Wednesday.
Current stored supplies of oil are enough for only six weeks of exports, according to one analyst, if new production is halted.
Its Obvious that the good thing Nigerians benefit from the goverment is the subsidy...which has been romoved as well...so more than half of Nigeria have nothing left to be happy for apart from the life they have  | | | | |
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Forum / Naijapals Base (Metro life) / REVEALED:FG targets N120 per litre |
on: 13-01-2012 03:03 AM
| A source close to the Presidency said that a few compromised labor leaders may have encouraged President Goodluck Jonathan to take a tough stance in today’s negotiation between the government and organized labor to end mass protests and a general strike that has ground Nigeria to a halt.
At today’s negotiation, Mr. Jonathan offered to reduce the price of fuel from more than N140 to N120 per liter. Labor leaders rejected the offer, calling for a restoration of the price to N65. The Jonathan
administration precipitated the protests by announcing a blanket removal of fuel subsidy, leading to a dramatic rise of fuel prices to N141.
Prior to today’s stalemated negotiations, two sources in the Jonathan Presidency said that the president was going to agree to return subsidies pending further talks with labor in April of this year.
However, an emboldened Jonathan insisted at the talks that his government could not go below N120 as the per liter price of fuel. “I believe that pro-government labor leaders must have encouraged government to adopt that position,” said one source, adding that some representatives of labor were cozy with officials of the Jonathan government.
Why are they doing this?...why wont they understand the risk pple will live in by increasin it from N65 to N120 or N141....theres no difference...when they r ready to make good effort..we wil listen  | | | | |
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Forum / Naijapals Base (Metro life) / Senators, Reps to resolve crisis in 24 hrs |
on: 12-01-2012 08:06 PM
| | *Govt can’t fight oil cabal with hands tied – Alison Madueke
BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, EMMAN OVUAKPORIE & Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA- THE Senate and the House of Representatives, yesterday, expressed their resolve to end the current nationwide strike by organised labour against removal of fuel subsidy by government within 24 hours, following positive responses from both parties after series of meetings held in the past 72 hours.
Senate President, David Mark had called two separate meetings on Monday and Tuesday nights at his Apo Mansion to settle the impasse between Labour and the Federal Government.
The meetings which were attended by the leadership of Organized Labour led by President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar and his counterpart from the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Peter Esele was however deadlocked as Senate could not convince labour to call off the strike.
Vanguard gathered that the Senate has proposed a middle point where federal government and labour will meet by way of a new price regime for petroleum products instead of the complete removal of fuel subsidy.
Sources said that it was suggested to government to peg the price of petrol at N90 or N100 per litre.
It will be recalled that Senator Mark had given assurance that the impasse between Organized Labour and Federal Government on the removal of fuel subsidy will soon come to end.
Day 3: Protesters in Lagos at the Gani Fawehinmi park Ojota,
The House of Representatives on its part was confident an agreement would be reached between labour and government within 24 hours.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, the chairman of the House Committee on Labour, Pastor Essien Ekpenyong Ayi said this was based on positive responses from the representatives of the organised labour and those of the Federal Government at the ongoing negotiation with the two parties on the issue.
According to the Chairman, “we are making progress, and I sincerely believe that in the next 24 hours or so, the effort of the House to resolve this matter shall be achieved”.
He said that during the interface, labour insisted that certain conditions must be met before the federal government could go ahead with the deregulation policy and lamented that none of the conditions such as fixing the nation’s refineries, fixing of roads, power supply and functional transportation among others, has been met before it went ahead with the policy.
Ayi however said that hope was not lost as both parties have seen reasons why the matter should be resolved amicably before further damage was done to the nation’s economy.
He said: “Today (yesterday) is the third day of the ongoing strike and you will agree with me that government has lost a lot of resources running into billions of naira as a result of the ongoing strike. I am made to understand that Nigeria has lost as much as N158.9 billion on daily basis from the ongoing strike. What is accrued to the federal government from her own share of the deregulation for 2012 is about N500billion from the N1.3trillion and if the strike is sustained for about five days, the government shall lose more”.
Govt can’t fight oil cabal with tied hands – Alison-Madueke
Meanwhile, Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, yesterday, gave reasons why the government would not revert fuel price to N65 per litre as being demanded by protesting Nigerians led by the Organised Labour since last Monday.
According to her, retaining fuel subsidy would entrench the nauseating graft in the downstream sector of the oil industry, mortgage the country’s future and make it almost impossible for the government to check the corrupt activities of some oil marketers, who are reaping bountifully from oil subsidy to the detriment of most Nigerians and the economy.
Taking over Ojota...Day 3 of the Labour strike in Lagos.
The Minister, who spoke in an NTA programme yesterday, said her experience as Petroleum Minister in the last16 months showed that fuel subsidy was the main cause of corruption in the downstream sector of the oil industry.
“People want us to fight the oil cabal and yet they don’t want us to remove subsidy, which is the main cause of corruption in the sector. We can’t fight corruption in the downstream sector with our hands tied,” she said.
Besides, Alison-Madueke urged Nigerians not to be unnecessarily hard on patriotic Nigerians, who played key roles in ensuring steady fuel supply in the county as oil marketers. “There are innocent marketers doing genuine business to keep Nigeria wet. We must not mix them with the corrupt ones. We shall go after the corrupt ones,” she said.
Lamenting that countries around Nigeria sell fuel at a gross higher rate even with the N141 per litre price, she said it was not possible to ensure zero smuggling of fuel at the borders, which, according her, even the United States of America had not been able to achieve.
According to her, fuel price in some neighbouring African countries in Naira are as follows: Chad, N210; Ghana, N175; Niger, N181; Benin Republic, N167 and Morocco, N198.
Urging Nigerians and Organised Labour to buy into the deregulation policy in the interest of the country, the Minister said government wanted to leave a lasting legacy for the country and would embark on reforms to ensure a brighter Nigeria.
“We have only one country, one Nigeria. We want to leave a legacy for us to be remembered for in future. We want to ensure that we can look back after the next three years and say we managed well the temporary pains that came with the removal of fuel subsidy,” she said.
Vanguard Nigeria
THIS COULD BE THE END OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL...But it just has to come back to 65Naira...or we still no gree... | | | | |
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Forum / Relationships & Romance / Re: My boyfriend and my best friend |
on: 12-01-2012 03:16 PM
| excuse me oooooooooooooo u said they kissed nt dat they made love together? girl u are really funny, so u end a relationship bcos he kissed ur best friend wat abt if he had fcuk her then u will kill him. please stop crying nd go back to ur guy nd forget everything
the poster is not girll...he is boy...read the first he line...its obviious he copied this from somwer | | | | |
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Forum / Relationships & Romance / Re: Ladies, we all have to protest |
on: 12-01-2012 11:37 AM
| Let us say No to the men
May I have ur Attention LADIES Pls:
We the Association of boyfriends, barchelors, fiance, and husbands will like to inform our girlfriends, fiancees, married women that we ve removed subsidy in all our expenses, " No more baby can I take a cab: pls take the next available bus and get here on time. No more I want to fix my hair: pls cut the hair, I love it wen you are natural. ({}) All birthdays
have been postponed till further notice. No more pls pay for my BIS: whatsapp is very effective and fast, use ur Sony Ericsson. No more paying of bride price, unless ur papa go collect post dated cheque until our refinery are repaired. We have removed all forms of subsidies on all activities except those relating to the bedroom for which we retain our God given authority \=D/ . We have realised that we are equal partners, hence, all expenses going forward shall be shared 50:50. We understand the pain this might bring but we must suffer now for the future to be better. Please if you must protest, let it be peaceful. Do not scatter the electronics, for it will lead to removal of more subsidy. May God give us the grace to bear this upcoming pain(s).'"if U̶̲̥̅̊ cnt comply...marry ur fada"These are what they are planning to remove.
Sorry...i didnt read that i was carried away....  | | | | |
