Leadership (Abuja)
Ese Awhotu
19 June 2008
Abuja — The country's oil sector which recently witnessed a major setback in its operations following a nationwide strike action by the nation's senior oil workers, otherwise known as Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) following a dispute with ExxonMobil over the sack of some of their members by the oil giant have signified their decision to embark on another strike after talks with Chevron Corporation's local unit collapsed.
A union official who disclosed this said a strike action may start any moment from now as discussions have broken down."The discussions broke down," Jonathan Omare, secretary of the Chevron unit of PENGASSAN, told Bloomberg by phone yesterday. "A strike may start any moment from now," he declared.
PENGASSAN last week set Wednesday as the deadline for resolving a labour dispute with Chevron. The union was open to resuming talks if the company showed "some seriousness and a sense of urgency," Omare said.
Chevron in 2007 had daily output of about 350,000 barrels of crude and 14 million cubic feet of gas from its 32 fields in Nigeria, according to the company's Web site.
However, Margret Cooper, a spokesman for Chevron, was reported as saying that discussions are continuing.
The union has demanded the removal of Fred Nelson, head of the Nigerian unit, in a letter sent to Chevron executives in San Ramon, California. It alleges safety standards have lapsed and Nigerian employees have been replaced with expatriates.
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