Category: West Africa

After a protracted meeting with government officials which lasted for 13 hours, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) suspended their nationwide strike on Friday morning. Their industrial action was in protest against several unresolved issues with the government, among which are unfair labour practices and non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. The meeting by the labour leaders and the government’s delegation led by the Supervising Labour Minister, Ads by Google Copyright © 2014 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

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Nigeria’s oil unions are set to start delayed talks with the government as a national strike entered its fourth day in Africa ’s biggest crude producer. The strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, is aimed at curbing local fuel supply and exports. Pengassan represents managers and Nupeng lobbies for manual workers. “If we are unable to get a strong commitment from the government, the strike will continue until we get something positive,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman for Pengassan, said by phone yesterday from Warri, a southern oil hub. Union leaders said delayed talks with the authorities would be held today in Abuja, the capital. Workers are protesting the government’s failure to fix refineries, cut gasoline prices in line with the slump in crude, and also to press for the passage of a new oil […]

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THE Federal Government will today meet leaders of striking oil workers and other stakeholders in the petroleum sector in a desperate effort to end the industrial action before it worsens the fuel supply chain and other socio-economic situations. Already, the workers, on the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN’s counterpart, operating as NUPENGASSAN, have not only stopped loading of products, major installations in both upstream and downstream have also, been shut. Vanguard gathered that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministries of Labour and Productivity as well as Petroleum Resources, slated today’s meeting for 11 am in Abuja. However situations reports across the country yesterday indicated high level of compliance by workers on the first day of the strike. In Lagos, most depots were shut. At Ejigbo Depot, some tankers that […]

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Nigeria ’s two oil unions entered the second day of an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude. “You will soon begin to see shutdowns of our oil flow,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said by phone. Ohi Alegbe, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the Oil Ministry, declined to comment on exports. While talks between union leaders and authorities have been agreed, “the time and date is not yet fixed,” the union official said. “As soon as we confirm the time for talks, we will engage them. But as I speak the strike is continuing.” Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue. Brent crude oil plunged […]

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Nigeria’s two oil unions began an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude. “You will soon begin to see shutdowns of our oil flow,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said by phone. Ohi Alegbe, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the Oil Ministry, declined to comment on exports. Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue. Brent crude oil plunged 44 percent this year. It rose as much as 2.3 percent to $63.25 a barrel in London today. Nigeria needs about twice that to balance its budget, according to estimates in October from Deutsche Bank AG. “We do not expect the strike to have a material impact on […]

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Lagos — NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, will today begin an indefinite nationwide strike, to protest the inability of the government to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of the refineries and reduce pump prices of petroleum products in line with the slump in global prices of crude oil. Other grievances include delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB; non-implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act to reflect Nigerians in management positions and expatriate quota law; appalling state of access roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities and insecurity in the country that has led to the death of members. Other complaints are appointments in government agencies in disregards to succession planning, compulsory deduction from workers’ salaries for the National Housing Fund, NHF; casualisation and […]

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analysis Nigerian piracy is unique for several reasons. It accounts for 71% percent of all incidents in West Africa, and the methods used by Nigerian pirates are highly profitable. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which monitors sea crime, reported eight piracy incidents off Somalia during the first half of 2013. 31 piracy incidents were recorded off the West African coast during the same period, 9 off the coast of Nigeria and 22 outside of Nigeria’s territorial waters. With fewer attacks off Somalia, attention has moved to the Gulf of Guinea, a hot spot for violent piracy and ship hijacking for many years. The region recorded more than 40 piracy attacks in the first three quarters of 2013, with 132 crew taken hostage and seven vessels hijacked – six tankers and an offshore supply vessel. Nigeria, the main source of piracy in the region, accounted for 29 piracy incidents, including […]

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Following the steady decline in oil prices, we deem it fit to revise this report as the arguments herein still remain germane to the need for Nigeria to urgently address its dependence on oil revenues. This report was originally released in December 2010, following the approval for an increase in Nigeria’s minimum wage and its consequences on public sector finances, especially for the federating states. While the arguments for and against Nigeria’s debt profile continue, we believe the assessment, viability and sustainability of the current model of funding Nigeria’s federating states remains largely ignored. In our opinion, this is fundamental to Nigeria’s ability to achieve and sustain economic growth and development in the long run. At present, states receive a substantial portion of their income – average of c. N3.8 billion as of June 2014 – from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which is the body responsible for […]

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Farm laborers sit on top of sugar cane on a truck in the northeastern state… ENLARGE Farm laborers sit on top of sugar cane on a truck in the northeastern state of Zamfara. Nigeria, whose economy surpassed South Africa in April as the continent’s largest, has striven to generate revenue beyond oil. ? Akintunde Akinleye / Reuters Nigeria’s finance ministry proposed a lower benchmark for the budgeted oil price, suggesting spending cuts after the commodity’s relentless slide in recent weeks. Paul Nwabuikwu, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, said on Thursday that Africa’s biggest crude producer is now budgeting for an oil price of $65 per barrel, compared with the previous estimate of $73. “In view of the present realities, we have readjusted,” he said. “We hope to cut down extensively on our recurrent expenditure in the 2015 budget.” Oil and natural gas make up almost all of […]

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