Petrobras workers strike

Workers at Brazil\'s state-run oil company Petrobras are staging a five-day strike, raising fears of further pressure on world oil prices.



The firm is playing down the potential impact of the dispute, which is over offshore working conditions.



The management said there is a contingency plan to maintain output.



However, a union spokesman said while management would do everything they could to maintain production, workers would do their best to disrupt it.



The strike by employees at the 42 oilfields in the Campos basin off the coast of the state of Sao Paulo seems set to go ahead after talks last week ended without agreement.



At the heart of the dispute is a union demand that a day spent travelling from oil platforms to the mainland should be counted as work.