PENGASSAN: Nigeria Strike Shuts 90% Of Mobil Production

IBADAN, Nigeria, April 25, 2008 (Dow Jones Newswires)

Oil production by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, or MPN, has been cut by 90% due to the strike by MPN workers, George Sola Olumoroti, Mobil branch chairman of the white-collar Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or Pengassan, told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

He said MPN has a production figure of 866,000 barrels of oil a day.

Earlier, a union official told Dow Jones Newswires the ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) has shut in around 200,000 barrels a day of crude output in Nigeria.

Olurotimi earlier Friday told Dow Jones Pengassan workers would achieve total shut down of MPN production by Friday. The strike, which began Thursday over demand for higher wages, was still on.

"No talks are going on now with the Mobil management to end the strike," Olurotimi said. "But we are standing-by for the management to call us for a resumption of negotiations."

Efforts to get MPN official to comment were unsuccessful.

IBADAN, Nigeria, April 25, 2008 (Dow Jones Newswires)