Exxon reaches deal with union to end Nigeria strike

ABUJA (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil reached a deal with a Nigerian oil union on Thursday to end an eight-day-old strike which had shut in virtually all the U.S. oil major's production in the West African country, a union leader said.

"We have reached agreement, production resumes immediately," said Olusola George-Olumoriti, chairman of the PENGASSAN union's Mobil Producing Nigeria branch, after talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

The union reached agreement with Exxon on four out of their five demands, but negotiations would continue on the size of a salary increase once oil production had restarted, George-Olumoriti said.

The strike and attacks by Niger Delta rebels have slashed production in the world's eighth-largest oil exporter by more than half, driving prices to a record high around $120 a barrel on Monday. Oil has since fallen back to below $113 a barrel.

The stoppage has shut down virtually all Exxon's 800,000 barrels per day of production in Nigeria.

It forced the U.S. oil major on Monday to declare force majeure on its shipments, meaning it could not fulfill contractural obligations to clients.

Exxon Mobil had agreed to reduce the quota of expatriate workers, improve pensions, diminish casual labor and improve pipeline safety, the union leader said.

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(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by Daniel Flynn)