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Sao Paulo: Oil workers at Petrobras, Brazil's national energy giant, halted extraction at most of the country's main fields in the Campos basin at the outset of a planned five-day strike, a union official said.
Campos accounts for more than 80 per cent of Brazil's crude output of 1.8 million barrels per day, or around two per cent of world supply. Worries about the strike helped push up world oil prices last week to a new record on Friday above $147.
"Of the 42 platforms, 33 are now stopped," said Jose Genivaldo Silva, director of the United Oil Workers' Federation (FUP), an umbrella union, almost one hour into the stoppage. Petrobras had said it would implement a contingency plan to maintain production on the platforms but Silva said workers would resist any such attempts. The firm has so far declined to comment on the stoppage.
Little impact
Brazil is self-sufficient in oil and little of its production is exported, meaning the stoppage is likely to have little impact on foreign importers.
Petrobras said in May that first quarter net imports of oil and products totalled 7,000 bpd, while a year ago it had net exports of 187,000 bpd.
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