The industrial dispute at the 250,000 barrels per day capacity Agbami Offshore Oilfield operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has been resolved following a truce with aggrieved oil workers.
Mr Lumumba Okugbawa, General-Secretary of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) confirmed the development in a telephone chat on Friday.
According to him, the leadership of PENGASSAN and management of CNL reached agreements that resulted in the settlement of their concerns on impending job cuts and hence making the strike unnecessary.
Okugbawa said that the mediatory meeting with Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum with leadership of the union for Thursday, to find a lasting solution to the industrial disharmony did not hold as the truce was reached before the proposed meeting.
PENGASSAN had threatened to down tools and shutdown Agbami, CNL’s flagship deep offshore facility over moves by Chevron to cut its workforce by 25 per cent amongst other issues.
It will be recalled that CNL had in a statement on Oct. 2, 2020 announced plans to lay off at least 600 of its workforce, a development that irked the in-house branch of PENGASSAN to protest.
Esimaje Brikinn, CNL’s General Manager Policy, Government and Public Affairs, had in a response statement, noted that the 25 per cent job cut was to reposition the oil firm for greater efficiency and competitiveness.
Okugbawa said that, “the meeting with Minister of State for Petroleum Resources scheduled for April 15 was no longer necesary because the engagement with management of CNL yielded the desire result that led to a truce,”
Agbami field which has capacity for up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) currently produces some 140,000 bpd according to industry data.
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