PENGASSAN suspends strike action at ExxonMobil

Article summary

• NNPCL has resolved the PENGASSAN-led strike action at Mobil and ESSO facilities in the country.
  
• Mobil and the Union were able to resolve the challenges with NNPCL as mediators.
  
• All parties involved were able to agree on a few terms.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called off its industrial action which constrained export activities of up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day across all ExxonMobil locations in Nigeria.

This follows the mediation efforts of Mele Kyari, the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

A statement issued via Twitter on Thursday morning explained that Kyari successfully led the mediation efforts between the union and the company, represented by PENGASSAN’S National President, Comrade Festus Osifo and the MD of Mobil Producing Nigeria who represented ExxonMobil.

The strike action by PENGASSAN at all the Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited facilities across the country began on April 13, 2023. The strike action constrained 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

The cause

According to the NNPCL statement signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, industrial relations at Mobil broke down as a result of the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement stalemate and proposed changes to the rota schedule of operations staff. During the April 26 meeting between NNPCL leadership, Mobil and the Union, NNPCL prevailed on the Union and Mobil to shift grounds and find a common position in the interest of all parties and the federation.

The resolution

Mobil and the Union signed off on a pay adjustment and resolved to put a working team together that will have a 5-month timeline to review the proposals for a possible change in the rota schedule for operations staff and parameters for implementation.

What you should know: 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 1.67 million barrels per day in March 2023.