Barely a week after Nigeria’s crude oil production was reported to have increased by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) following the completion of Shell’s Forcados Oil Terminal, the nation’s crude oil production could decline by as much as 22,000 bpd.
About 342 petroleum workers of Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria, a company with a series of oil licenses and a crude oil production capacity of 22,000 bpd, have downed tools in protest against the irregular payment of salaries, allowances, stoppage of performance rewards, violating employees working hours without compensation and non-promotion since the Federal Government took over from Sinopec Group, the Chinese company that exited the country.
In a letter written by the aggrieved staff, Sinopec Group owned four Oil Mining Licenses (OML) in Nigeria, OML 123,124,126 and 137. And operate in a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with NNPC Limited.
However, the company refused to renew the licenses after expiration in March 2022 as it has started exiting its operations in the country. This forced the federal government to take total control of the licenses and operations.
The letter read in part: “SINOPEC has withheld funding her Nigeria operation (Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria) following its ongoing exit which has created safety and operational challenges for employees and the much-anticipated operational funding from the NNPC/NAPIMS is yet to be received.
“PENGASSAN-Addax Branch has been put in an indeterminate state, as SINOPEC-owned Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited exits and NNPC Limited is slowly assuming responsibility over the operations of the assets.
“The safety and security of our members have been compromised. Addax Izombe facility OML-124 recently suffered an attempted bomb blast incident around the staff accommodation area.
“It is important to mention that NNPC has been taking all the revenue from the OML-123/124 and OML-126/137 Assets since early 2022.”
Despite the huge profit taken since June 2022, NNPC has refused properly managed staff grievances and poor labour practices, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) stated.
PENGASSAN Secretary, Ken Olubor, argued that since Addax had tidied its exit, they should please make arrangements for their exit packages.
