ExxonMobil meets Nigeria strikers
LAGOS, Nigeria—Representatives of ExxonMobil Corp. met Monday with striking workers who have shut down oil production from the company's operations Nigeria, officials said.
Company spokesman Adeyemi Fakayejo said the negotiations were aimed at ending the walkout by white collar workers seeking better pay and benefits.
"The meetings are continuing," he said.
The strike began late last week, and the company said the stoppage had affected oil output. Fakayejo said Monday that he couldn't speculate on how much production the company had lost in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer. ExxonMobil is the country's second-largest operator.
Separately, a militant group behind a group of pipeline bombings claimed that its latest attack had caused Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Nigerian joint venture losses of about 350,000 barrels per day. Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo could not confirm the militants' claim, and it could not be independently verified. The militants cited an inside source for the information.
Okolobo said Shell doesn't provide daily production figures. He said the company was mobilizing clean-up and recovery efforts for spilled oil after the attacks.
Shell, which is Nigeria's largest oil company, said an earlier attack had cut about 169,000 barrels per day of crude.
Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, is pumping crude at rates that are significantly below its capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day after militant attacks that began in 2006. The shortfall is adding pressure to oil markets that are reaching never before seen heights.
