The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have directed employees of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to shut down indefinitely their locations and all oil production facilities nationwide.
The action is meant to force the federal government to reverse the transfer of operatorship of OMLs 42, 40 and 30 previously operated by Shell.
The minister of petroleum resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has already approved the deal.
The directive to shut down the facilities was issued yesterday by the executive councils of the PENGASSAN and NUPENG.
The unions, it was gathered, directed that the shut down of facilities takes effect from tomorrow, May 20, 2015.
They accused the federal government of carrying out the sale in secrecy, alleging that the transaction did not follow due process.
The unions also wondered the fate of NPDC and its workers when new owners take over.
Mr. Emeka Offor’s Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, a joint venture company of Eland Oil & Gas Plc, was awarded the operatorship of OML 40, while Mr. Ernest Ezedialu Obiejesi’s NECONDE is the operator of OML 42.
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