BY Busola Aro
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has cancelled its industrial action across Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL) facilities.
The development comes two weeks after the industrial action commenced and had constrained 300,000 barrels of oil production daily (BOPD).
The strike had also affected export activities and forced Mobil to declare a force majeure across all their locations.
In a statement on Thursday, Garba Deen Muhammad, the spokesperson of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, said the strike was cancelled after a high-level mediation effort was made by Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group chief executive officer (GCEO), on Wednesday.
At the meeting, according to the statement, Kyari urged the union and Mobil to immediately and unconditionally return to work, adding that production and export activities across all Mobil locations in Nigeria should also resume.
“At a tripartite meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, 26th April 2023, between the leadership of Mobil, PENGASSAN led by the national president of the union, comrade Festus Osifo, and NNPC Ltd, at the instance of the GCEO, the union’s grievances were holistically addressed and firm commitments were put in place to avoid a repeat of the regrettable situation,” the statement reads.
“Industrial relations broke down at Mobil as a result of the 2023 collective bargaining agreement stalemate and proposed changes to the royal schedule of operations staff.
“During the mediation, the NNPC Ltd leadership prevailed on both Mobil and the union to shift grounds and find a common position in the interest of all parties and the federation.
“A pay adjustment acceptable to the union and within the threshold of Mobil was collectively agreed upon and signed off, while both parties have also agreed to put together a working team that will have a five-month timeline to review the proposals for a possible change in rota schedule for operations staff and parameters for implementation.”
Kyari was said have also asked the union to always explore alternative means of dispute resolution rather than resorting to strike actions with far-reaching implications beyond the operations of the company involved in the dispute.
“The industrial action commenced in the aftermath of the recovery of national production from an all-time low of sub-one million barrels of crude oil production per day in July 2022 to over 167 million barrels per day in March 2023,” the statement added.
“With NNPC Ltd asserting its industry leadership and the current sustained efforts at curbing production losses, Nigeria’s crude oil production output is poised to hit 1.8 million barrels per day before the end of the year. An improved production output implies significant economic benefits for the country and all stakeholders.”
Last week, ExxonMobil declared a force majeure on oil liftings from several terminals in Nigeria following an industrial action by the company’s in-house workers union.
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