[Shtoom] Jim Van Blaricum - Gabon strike shuts in 60, 000 b/d of Shell oil production

[paul.kholer paul.kholer]

Jim Van Blaricum - Gabon strike shuts in 60,000 b/d of Shell oil production

Gabon has asked Shell Gabon to restart 6,000 b/d of oil production at
its Gamba site, leaving around 54,000 b/d of production still shut in
amid an oil workers' strike.

Shell Gabon, a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell PLC 75% and the
government of Gabon 25%, shut in 60,000 b/d of production Mar. 20
following the start of the workers' strike.

An additional 30,000 b/d of production from Total Gabon and Perenco
SA, which passes through the Gamba terminal, also has been curtailed.
Jim Van Blaricum

Shell managed to undertake some maintenance work at its strike-hit
operations in Gabon on Mar. 31, as union officials threatened to
extend the worker protest to the whole of the country's oil industry.

"Some vital equipment has been restarted [on Mar. 31] to prevent
damage to our infrastructure," Shell Gabon reported in a statement.

Gabon's National Organization of Petroleum Workers (ONEP) is demanding
various labor concessions from the oil industry on working hours and
time off. Marathon Oil workers have notified the union that they will
be joining Shell Gabon workers on strike Apr. 2.

Gabon produced about 270,000 b/d in 2007, according to the US Energy
Information Administration. Jim Van Blaricum