Employees of the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company in Benin, the Edo State, have begun an indefinite strike over the alleged failure of the management of the company to reverse the alleged sale of one of the country’s priced oil blocks, OML 42.

It was gathered that the workers, under the aegis of Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, are calling for a reversal of the sale of the asset claiming that, contrary to reports that the NPDC did not have the capacity to run the facility, it was competent enough to operate the oil block.

The aggrieved employees, it was learnt, had expressed fears that the sale would jeopardise the future of the industry.

It was also gathered that the industrial action, if allowed to persist, might affect the power sector as NPDC supplies at least 30 per cent of gas required to generate electricity.

One of the workers, accused the Ministry of Petroleum Resources of ignoring the input of NPDC employees in the decision and vowed that it would not stand.

“We are taking directive from our executive council of PENGASSAN and NUPENG. We are on strike and we are going to shut down all of our fields by midnight today,” the striking worker told our correspondent on Friday.

‎But a management staff of the company explained that the strike had resulted from “a breakdown in communication” between the management of the company and the workers, as the said oil block was not sold but rather placed under a proposed joint operation with a private company.

The source, who pleaded anonymity‎, said although the NPDC held 55 per cent ownership of the asset, while the private firm has 45 per cent under the current structure, the proposed model of operation might cede major ownership to the latter, a situation the source said the workers had rejected

The source said, “NPDC is a joint venture with a private company and NPDC was the operator of the joint venture.

“NNPC is proposing a new model, Joint Operating Model, from what we heard and that model is what the workers are protesting. It’s a new idea that would make the private company to be involved more in operation.

“The workers also feel that the OML 40 may follow suit and have gone on strike. But the management is planning to meet with them (workers) to do a proper negotiation maybe within the month.‎‎”‎


http://.com/discussion/3657/npdc-workers-on-strike-over-oil-block-sale/p1

What will happen to other OML - 42,30, 26 etc