ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s government and labor unions failed Saturday night to end a paralyzing nationwide strike over high gasoline costs, potentially sparking an oil production shutdown in a nation vital to U.S. oil supplies.
It was not clear early today whether a major oil workers’ union had gone ahead with its threat to have its members walk off their jobs starting at midnight in an effort to halt oil production.
Nigeria, which produces 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, is the fifth-largest oil exporter to the United States. Any disruption to oil production could roil the oil-futures market at a time traders remain concerned about world supply.
President Goodluck Jonathan did not show up for a meeting with the union Saturday night at the presidential villa in Abuja. After the meeting, Nigeria Labor Congress president Abdulwaheed Omar told waiting journalists: “We have not reached a compromise.”
