PENGASSAN withdraws workers from Eni over sale of Agip Nigeria to Oando

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says it has ordered the withdrawal of its members from all offices and field locations of Eni, over the sale of its subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) to Oando Plc.

Oando had announced that it reached an agreement with Eni, on the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in NAOC Ltd.

The transaction also included the acquisition of 20 percent participating interests in oil mining leases (OMLs) 60, 61, 62, and 63, the company added.

Speaking on the deal during a meeting in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Eyong Survival, chairman of PENGASSAN, Agip Group, expressed worries over the acquisition.

He said the transaction was completed “without consulting or alerting the union”.

“The Managing Director of Eni Nigeria, Mr. Fabrizio Bolondi, invited the workforce to a meeting on September 4, 2023, and callously informed us that Eni has sold its 20 percent equity share in NAOC JV, comprising OML 60, 61, 62 and 63, covering parts of Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, and Imo States to Oando Nigeria Limited, transferring all its assets and liabilities to Oando without recourse to outstanding financial obligations to the workers, vis-a-vis their employee savings plan, pension, and gratuity,” he said.

“It is imperative to note that the Union being the workers’ representative was not informed before the commencement of the sales agreement.

“Not long from the date, the Union, on hearing rumors of the sales of the assets, held a meeting with the management on July 12, 2023, where the question was put forward to Eni Nigeria Management if they had any plan of selling the NAOC JV assets to Oando or any other company, but the managing director vehemently denied any plan of selling the JV assets.

“Instead he made presentations on planned injection of IPP Phase 2 generated power to the national grid, as well as the possible conversion of OPL 245 to OML by the government.”

‘3,000 NAOC WORKERS MAY BE THROWN INTO LABOUR MARKET’

With the announcement of the sale of NAOC joint venture (JV) assets to Oando, Survival said over 3,000 indigenous workers may be thrown into the labour market as the details of the sales transaction “were not made known”.

The union leader said the association has ordered a total withdrawal of its members from all offices and field locations of the company until “a proper agreement is reached with Eni Nigeria and AGIP Group PENGASSAN”.

“By that withdrawal action, gas supply to Indoranma has been affected; daily oil production on 30,000nbbls of crude oil has been suspended, and about 10mscf of LNG gas to NLNG has been cut off, as well as about 350MW of Okpai IPP power to the national grid has been shut down,” Survival said.

The chairman, therefore, called for due process to be followed by the Eni management.