By Bimbola Oyesola
Nigeria’s oil production may suffer further decline of 22,000 barrel per day, as employees of Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria have embarked on an indefinite strike over anti-labour practices.
Addax, owned by China’s Sinopec Group, has four Oil Mining Licences, OML 123, 124, 126 and 137, operating the assets in Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) before its transformation to a limited liability company.
The company has about 324 Nigerian employees, which include the 141 permanent staff and 183 contract employees. According to the embattled workers, who are members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Addax management has refused to engage them on labour related issues following the announcement of the revocation of its licences by the Federal Government.
The workers have therefore threatened to shut all of the company’s operations including oil wells, valves crude lifting and export terminals operated by Addax if it refuses to engage them, since all attempts to get the management to the negotiation table failed. The workers explained that sequel to the notification by the APN management informing its employees on the withdrawal of operating licences by the NNPC in a town hall meeting, both parties met and reach a financial term of exit settlement for all the workers.
Daily Sun gathered that it was agreed that the financial exit settlement will be executed at the expiration of Addax Petroleum Nigeria’s PSC agreement for OML 123 and 124 by July 1, 2022.
“Addax management has so far rebuffed our call for the execution of the financial exit settlement and other employees ‘related issues.
Senior Assistant General Secretary, Lagos Zone PENGASSAN, Babatunde Oke confirmed that the strike was embarked upon by the workers due to the Management’s refusal to engage the Association on the financial settlement earlier agreed on.
One of the workers who spoke with Daily Sun on condition of anonymity, explained that the workers have waited patiently for the management “trying to understand its plights but it is like they are insensitive to our own problems. Many letters have been written asking for a meeting but the Management refused to meet them.”
PENGASSAN explained that the Federal Government has done everything possible through the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) to ensure issues are settled amicably but Addax Management is frustrating every move by NAPIMS and other stakeholders to resolve the issue. The union recalled that Addax has been enmeshed in revocation of licences by the then Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in March 2021. The regulatory agency claimed that the licences were revoked due to refusal of Addax Petroleum to fully develop the affected assets, alleging that this action has robbed the government of revenue that could have been generated from assets.