Brazil oil production cut 7pc by strike
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 15 (AFP): Oil output in Brazil was cut seven per cent yesterday as workers for Petrobras started a five-day strike over a demand for an extra day's pay, the state- run company said.
The stoppage affected platforms in the Campos basin off shore from Rio de Janeiro that provides 82 per cent of the 1.8 million barrels of oil Petrobras pumps out each day.
The union calling the strike, the United Oil Workers Federation (FUP), contested the company's evaluation and said total output was diminished by 22 per cent, or around 400,000 barrels.
It also signaled a hardening stance in the dispute, which is over the union's demand that a worker's travel back to the mainland from the platforms after each 14-day stint be counted as a paid workday.
The strike was contributing to upwards pressure on world oil prices.
"As long as there is no disembarking (from the platforms), the workers should stay in place with their arms crossed," the union said in a statement.
The stoppage affected platforms in the Campos basin off shore from Rio de Janeiro that provides 82 per cent of the 1.8 million barrels of oil Petrobras pumps out each day.
The union calling the strike, the United Oil Workers Federation (FUP), contested the company's evaluation and said total output was diminished by 22 per cent, or around 400,000 barrels.
It also signaled a hardening stance in the dispute, which is over the union's demand that a worker's travel back to the mainland from the platforms after each 14-day stint be counted as a paid workday.
The strike was contributing to upwards pressure on world oil prices.
"As long as there is no disembarking (from the platforms), the workers should stay in place with their arms crossed," the union said in a statement.