Talks with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathon over the country's removal of fuel subsidies have been 'fruitful', according to trade unions but strikes could continue until an agreement is reached.

Nigeria scrapped subsidies on petrol imports on January 1, more than doubling the pump price to around 150 nairaa litre, sparking bitter protests across the country.

Tens of thousands of Nigerians had been demonstrating in cities up and down Africa's most populous nation for four straight days as neither side was ready to concede an inch.

Unions said the pre-subsidy removal petrol price of 65 naira a litre must be reintroduced and the government said fuel subsidies were gone for good because they were corrupt and a dangerous drain on Africa's second-largest economy.

"We had fruitful discussions, both sides have agreed to shift ground. We will be meeting again on Saturday," said Abdulwaheed Omar, president of Nigeria Labour Congress, one of Nigeria's two biggest workers' unions.

"Unless and until we get a conclusive conclusion from the discussion then that means we will maintain status quo. For now the strike still continues," Omar said.

The central bank governor, Lamido Sanusi said the strikes were costing the economy more than $600 million a day.

Presidency sources say the sticking point is the price of petrol and both sides may have to concede to a temporary fixed price, somewhere between 65 and 150 naira a litre.

It is not clear if unions are open to a phased subsidy removal. Sanusi said the key for government was to get unions to agree to subsidies being removed, even if it was in the future.

Oil
Nigeria's main oil union said before the meeting it would shut down output from Africa's biggest oil producer on Sunday if the government did not meet the public's demands, piling pressure of Jonathan to begin negotiations.

Industry officials doubted unions would be able to stop crude exports completely because much of production is automated and Nigeria has crude stored in reserves, but even a minor outage could have a significant impact on the economy.

Worries over Nigerian oil supplies have pushed up global oil prices.

Corruption
Economists say the subsidy fuelled corruption and keeping it in place would force Nigeria into huge external borrowing, but Nigerians, many of whom live on less than $2 a day, saw it as their most tangible welfare benefit.

Despite holding the world's seventh-largest gas reserves and producing over 2 million bpd of crude, decades of graft and mismanagement mean Nigeria has to import almost all of its fuel needs.

Source: Reuters