Nigeria's oil production may have suffered a further decline of not less than 22,000 barrels per day, as employees of Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria, APN, down tools over alleged 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 a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The company has about 324 Nigerian workers made up of 141 permanent staff and 183 contract employees.

Under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, the striking workers, said they began the industrial action Wednesday after several efforts to engage Addax management on pending labour issues were rebuffed.

The aggrieved workers are threatening to shut all the company's operations including oil wells, valves crude lifting and export terminals operated by Addax if the company refuses to engage them.

It was gathered that sequel to the notification by the APN Management informing its employees of the withdrawal of its operating licences by the NNPC in a town hall meeting, both parties met and reached a financial term of exit settlement for all the workers.

According to sources, it was agreed that the financial exit settlement would be executed at the expiration of Addax Petroleum Nigeria's PSC agreement for OML 123 and 124 by July 1, 2022.

Confirming the development, PENGASSAN's Senior Assistant General Secretary, Lagos Zone, Babatunde Oke, said "the strike was embarked upon by our members due to the Management's refusal to engage our Association on the financial settlement earlier agreed on.

"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."

Recall that Addax suffered the 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 the 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.