October 7, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 10, 1424

LONDON, Oct 6: Oil prices advanced on Monday after labour leaders in African producer Nigeria called for a nationwide general strike and as concerns mounted over the security situation in the Middle East.

The price of reference Brent North Sea crude oil for November delivery climbed 17 cents to $28.88 per barrel in late deals.

New York’s benchmark light sweet crude November contract won 28 cents to $30.68 per barrel in early trading.

“Technically, the market is very strong,” said Fimat broker Mark Head. “There are concerns about the Nigerian strike.”

David Thomas, an analyst at Commerzbank Securities, added that a combination of factors was supporting prices.

“The tension in Israel and Palestine again has come to people’s mind.

“Then, there is still this underlying threat of a general strike in Nigeria giving concern about production being halted or affected.

“And finally, there is this tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, Larry, that might develop in something bigger.”

Union chiefs, including the heads of Nigeria’s two powerful oil workers’ unions, voted over the weekend to launch their action on Thursday in reaction to a bid by President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government to deregulate fuel sales.

“We expect the strike will last at least two weeks,” Adams Oshiomhole, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), told reporters in the southwestern city of Ibadan.

“We foresee a long struggle,” he warned.

If the strike proves effective it could disrupt oil exports from what is usually the fifth biggest producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) cartel, with a quota of 2.018 million barrels per day (bpd) out of a total of 24.5 million bpd, under the new ceiling due to take effect next month.

Markets were also nervous about an escalation of tensions in the Middle East.—AFP