The nationwide strike embarked upon by some oil workers recently cost Nigeria over 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil, and also affected gas production and electricity generation, an official announced on Monday.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Bayo Ojulari, announced this on Monday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“In this particular case, we actually lost significant production of over 200,000 bpd that was deferred; we also have gas production that was deferred; we also have power generation that was impacted,” Mr Ojulari told journalists at the State House.
At an average price of $66 per barrel, it means Nigeria lost about $39.6 million (N57.4 billion) worth of crude oil for the three days the strike lasted.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the strike called by PENGASSAN, a union of senior oil workers in the oil industry, to protest the sack of its members by Dangote refinery. It was suspended last Wednesday following the federal government’s intervention.
PENGASSAN/Dangote crisis
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals recently terminated the appointment of about 800 Nigerian workers in its employ for their alleged involvement in sabotage activities that pose threats to the safety and operations of the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility.
In a letter endorsed by Femi Adekunle, a human resource manager at the Dangote Group, the corporation told the affected employees of the management’s decision to discontinue their service, effective from 25 September.
“This exercise is not arbitrary. It has become necessary to safeguard the refinery from repeated acts of sabotage that have raised safety concerns and affected operational efficiency.”
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), on the contrary, claimed that the company’s rationale for asking the workers to leave stemmed from their decision to join the labour group as registered members.
It went further to allege that the refinery had been making furtive plans to replace the dismissed staff with expatriates.
READ ALSO: PENGASSAN suspends strike after agreement with Dangote Refinery
In the days that followed, the union instructed members to block gas supply to the plant in mark of protest.
Dangote refinery described the order as illegal, adding that PENGASSAN lacks the right to interfere with the company’s contracts with third-party vendors for gas and crude oil supply.
Last Wednesday, PENGASSAN suspended its nationwide strike after reaching an agreement with the Dangote refinery management.
