The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) suspended its six-day strike early on Wednesday, after discussions with officials of the Federal Government and employers in the oil sector, mitigating fears of yet another fuel scarcity episode.
The union of oil workers called on its members, nationwide, to resume work with immediate effect, following its National Executive Committee meeting. The strike was suspended following a two-day meeting between the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the leadership of PENGASSAN to address lingering issues in the oil and gas industry. The labour union was aggrieved over the Federal Government’s reluctance to pay over $7 billion in arrears to the Oil and Gas industry, along with the lack of clear directions on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and forceful imposition of government agencies in the industry.
The Federal Government agreed to pay off an estimated $4.8 billion arrears of the old Joint Venture cash calls inherited by President Buhari’s administration as part of the peace deal. PENGASSAN President, Johnson, explained that the $4.8 billion will “help the IOCs [International Oil Companies] stem the tide of redundancies being declared in the industry and help address job losses.”
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting by the Ministry of Labour and Employment read: “The meeting was satisfied with the new model of the Joint Venture arrangement by the Petroleum Resources Ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, as well as the payment structure put in place to pay off the arrears of the old Joint Venture Cash Calls inherited by the new government.”
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, told stakeholders that the restructuring exercise in the agencies had been done and no jobs had been lost. Restructuring will take place in the following departments: the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, Department of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria Content Development Management Board, Petroleum Training Institute, Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Petroleum Equalisation Fund and Petroleum Technology Development Fund. The restructuring and alteration of the payment structure will sway International Oil Companies to stem the tide of redundancies being declared in the industry and help address the retrenchment of oil workers who will, otherwise, be pushed into the unemployment market.
Negotiations are set to continue between PENGASSAN and the ministries of Labour and Petroleum Resources as further talks have been scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday, July 19 and 21 respectively, to iron out pending concerns. The suspended strike is most welcome in a period of uncertainty within the Oil and Gas sector as marketers are struggling to access foreign credit facilities and the nation’s oil production is declining due to persistent attacks on critical oil pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta.
