Oil workers okay plot to shut refineries

Lagos—A total shut down of refineries and petro-chemical companies in the country looks imminent weekend, as the nation’s oil workers have begun the process of shutting down the refineries and petro-chemical companies to protest alleged government’s un-procedural and unilateral actions in the planned privatisation of the refineries.

Meanwhile, there are indications that crude oil prices may rise above $75 a barrel in the next three months if the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme causes the country to cut exports, said David Thurtell, head of commodity research at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Uche Okoro, told Vanguard yesterday that the decision to shut the oil plants followed the deadlock reached at meetings between the leadership of the oil workers and government to find amicable solution to the crisis in the oil sector.

Vanguard