By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) –The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday began an indefinite strike that may disrupt output in the country and affect domestic fuel supplies, a Bloomberg report quoted an official of the union.
“We have total shutdown at NNPC offices and all their subsidiaries, and that may affect the exports,” Babatunde Oke, a Lagos-based spokesman for both a managers’ union and a blue-collar workers’ union, confirmed to Bloomberg. “The refinery workers are also not working,” Oke said.
According to the union spokesman, staffs operating flow stations that pump crude to export terminals are joining the action, meaning a protracted strike could disrupt cargoes. ‘’Domestic fuel supplies may also fall short as the workers protest pension terms at NNPC,’’ he said.
On its part, the NNPC in statement advised union leaders to exercise restraint, ‘’measures have been taken to reduce the pensions’ deficit to 85 billion naira ($520 million) currently from 298 billion naira in 2010, it said.
Nigeria pumped 2.3 million barrels a day of oil in August, the most since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The report further affirmed that the NNPC runs joint ventures with Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA that pump about 80 percent of Nigeria’s crude.
Oke is a spokesman for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, a managers’ union, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.
