Itsekiri Women Invade Chevron's Oil Terminal By Mike Oduniyi This Day 7/10/02 Another crisis has hit the oil sector, as about 150 Itsekiri women, stormed the Escravos Tank Farm in Delta State, halting activities at the crude oil terminal operated by ChevronTexaco.
A press statement issued yesterday by the company said the women, who invaded the crude oil storage and export facility on Monday, were from the Ugborodo communities adjoining the tank farm.
It was the second major crisis to hit the American oil firm in about two weeks, following a major fire that rocked a drilling facility in one of its oil fields at Okpuekeba, where three people died and scores of others were injured.
The statement said that the women barricaded key installations in the tank farm, disrupting operational activities there.
The oil terminal handles the production and exports of over 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd).
A spokesman for Chevron, Mr. Wole Agunbiade, said yesterday that although oil production and exports were unaffected yet, the protesters had among others barricaded the airport in Escravos, built by Chevron to ease the movements of operational staff, as well as the company's offices.
The women, according to Agunbiade, were demanding that Chevron included Ugborodo communities in its community relations programmes, provide jobs for the youth in the communities, and provide social amenities.
"The company is trying to get people from the Presidency, the Delta State Government, the NNPC and the DPR to intervene," he said.
Chevron had also contacted relevant leadership groups in Ugborodo communities and the Warri Kingdom to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the protest, he added.
Multinational oil companies responsible for the production of about 90 percent of Nigeria's crude oil daily output of nearly 2.0 million barrels have often come under attacks by oil producing communities, demanding a greater share of fortunes from oil exploration in their areas.
Siege on Chevron: Officials Seek Truce with Women This Day, 7/11/02 Oil executives yesterday met with the leaders of a group of Itsekiri women who have hijacked one of the country's largest oil terminals demanding jobs for their sons.
Some 150 women from Ugborodo communities in Delta State barricaded facilities at the Chevron Nigeria terminal in Escravos on Monday, when they seized control of a boat and stormed the island on which the oil facility sits.
Hundreds of workers, both Nigerians and expatriates, have been unable to leave the terminal since, an engineer in the plant told AFP by telephone.
"The women are complaining that their children have not been given employment," the staff who asked not to be identified said.
"They are not armed or violent. Most of them are women over 45 and there is no way we would lay a finger on them," he added.
Chevron spokesman Wole Agunbiade, however, in an official response, said that company managers were meeting with representatives of the women to discuss their demands.
"We are hopeful that we will be able to resolve the situation," he said, explaining that the meeting was ongoing.
Talks were being held in the palace of the Olu of Warri, a traditional ruler, the Chevron engineer said. Agunbiade said that "more than 700" workers were trapped in the plant by the occupation of its airfield and dock, and that work was severely disrupted.
Site staff estimated that around 2,000 employees were stuck.
Chevron Nigeria is a subsidiary of US oil giant ChevronTexaco and Nigeria's third largest oil producer. It runs Escravos jointly with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The firm's production is estimated at around 500,000 barrels per day, with 450,000 normally passing through the besieged terminal, but officials would not confirm this.
The women arrived at the terminal, which is on an island in a swamp 300 kilometres (190 miles) east of Lagos, early on Monday after seizing a boat used to ferry in casual workers.
The Chevron engineer said that local youths helped the protesters take control of the boat, but that only women were involved in the protest on site.
The women split into three groups of around 50 and occupied the landing strip, dock and tank farm area, blockading administrative facilities and sealing the main gate, he said.
"Oil is still arriving at the tank farm by pipeline from the rigs, but many of them have had to cut their production quotas as none is being taken away," he said.
"Staff have been unable to leave or arrive for their changeovers since Monday, when a boat carrying a fresh two-week shift was turned back from the dock," he added.
Agunbiade could not confirm whether tankers were able to collect oil from the terminal, but said that Chevron expected to meet its oil export commitments this month.
Poverty Spurs Nigeria Oil Standoff by D'arcy Doran Associated Press 7/16/02 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0717-03.htm
Oil Deal 'Off', Nigerian Women Say by Andrew Marshall BBC 7/17/02 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0717-07.htm
Inter Press Service 7/19/02 Nigerian women End "Stand-Off" with Oil Company http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0719-03.htm
Nigerian Tribes Fight for Oil Jobs by D'arcy Doran Associated Press 7/24/02 http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0724-03.htm
Nigerian Women End Protests in Triumph Associated Press 7/26/02 http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0726-01.htm
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