Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08LAGOS219
2008-06-24 14:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Lagos
Cable title:  

NIGERIA: ATTACK, LABOR UNREST DISRUPT CHEVRON

Tags:  EPET ENRG PGOV NI 
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FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9954
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHHH/OPEC COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 9659
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH AFB UK
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
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RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEWMFD/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000219 

SIPDIS

DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2018
TAGS: EPET ENRG PGOV NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ATTACK, LABOR UNREST DISRUPT CHEVRON
PRODUCTION

Classified By: Acting Consul General Helen C Hudson for reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000219

SIPDIS

DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2018
TAGS: EPET ENRG PGOV NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ATTACK, LABOR UNREST DISRUPT CHEVRON
PRODUCTION

Classified By: Acting Consul General Helen C Hudson for reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D)


1. (C) Summary: An attack on a Chevron Nigerian Limited
pipeline in Delta State has forced the company to shut-in
production of 120,000 barrels of oil per day. The company
does not know who was responsible for the attack nor does it
have an estimated date for repair. Chevron's Managing
Director has left the country during the time of an ongoing
labor dispute and his return date is unknown. Recent attacks
on Shell and Chevron facilities have reduced Nigerian oil
output by 320,000 barrels per day, offsetting the 200,000
barrel per day production increase promised by Saudi Arabia.
Government sources estimate that the country is losing
approximately USD 84 million per day in revenue. Further
labor trouble could imperil all of Chevron's output and send
Nigeria's overall production to its lowest level in years.
End Summary.


2. (C) Femi Odumabo, the government relations manager for
Chevron confirmed press reports that the company has shut-in
daily production of 120,000 barrels of oil from its Escravos
area swamp fields in Delta State. According to Odumabo,
unknown assailants blew up a large pipeline leading from the
swamp fields to the Escravos export terminal. Near-offshore
oilfields in the Escravos area continue to produce oil. He
could not give an estimated repair date and he said Chevron
is still trying to determine who was behind the attack.


3. (C) Odumabo also reported that union unrest is growing.
Members of Chevron's two labor unions blocked access to
Chevron facilities during the morning of June 23-24. In
addition to demands for a wage increase, the unions are
seeking the removal of Amcit Managing Director Fred Nelson.
Nelson left Nigeria at the start of the union talks earlier
this month and has not returned. Odumabo could not say when
or if Nelson would resume his post. The unions have
threatened to shut-in all of Chevron's 335,000 barrel per day
production and stop work on Chevron's new Agbami off-shore
facility. A contact with an oilfield service company reports
that the unions have blocked the Escravos runway, preventing
workers from rotating into and out of the job site.


4. (C) Comment: Because of its much touted community
relations efforts, Chevron had been, or had thought itself to
be, relatively immune from attacks in the Western Niger
Delta. With this attack and the attack on Shell's Bonga
offshore facility, Nigeria has lost 320,000 barrels per day
of production in less than a week; far more than the 200,000
barrel production increase announced by Saudi Arabia.
Although Nigeria does not release daily production figures,
Nigeria's oil output has likely fallen to around 1.5 million
barrels per day. If these facilities remain off-line for a
lengthy period of time or the unions force Chevron to shut-in
the rest of its operations, Nigeria will experience one of
its lowest monthly production levels in two decades. End
Comment.
HUDSON