New Crackdown On Foreign Oil Workers In Nigeria

Nigerian unions are taking the names of foreign oil workers and planning to mount a crippling strike against multinational oil companies that use non-Nigerian labor, the Nigerian daily This Day reported Thursday.

The labor problem is only the latest in a series of moves that suggest the Nigerian government is no longer welcoming foreign players in the oil business. It has demanded they build refineries and refine their domestically-derived oil products locally, that more and more local "indigenous" firm get oil concessions, subjected foreign oil companies to multibillion fines, and seized their oil concessions.

In a late development Thursday, oil workers threatened yet another job action against a Malaysian energy firm for "alleged racial abuse."

This Day reported:

This Day (Lagos)

January 20, 2005
Posted to the web January 20, 2005

Mike Oduniyi
Lagos

Demand recall of expatriates

The nation's oil industry may witness a fresh round of crisis following the threat by senior employees in the sector to embark on strike next week to protest alleged racial abuse by multinational oil firms.

According to THISDAY checks, the strike may hit hard at operations at the Port Harcourt refinery, which only recently achieved 75 percent capacity utilization as well as oil production east of the Niger Delta.
...

"This, the national body of PENGASSAN will not tolerate and we have directed all our members in the Port Harcourt zone to down tools if at the end of the seven-day ultimatum the two expatriates were not recalled. Our position is that the safety of their lives can longer be guaranteed," said the PENGASSAN president, adding that the action could possibly spill over to a nationwide strike.

It would be in furtherance of PENGASSAN [an opikl industry labor union] demand on the Federal Government to check not only the influx of expatriate workers into the nation's strategic oil industry, but even now the growing excesses of the foreigners in subjugating their Nigerian subordinates to inhuman treatment, said Ogbeifun.

The issue of abuse of expatriate quota and influx of foreign oil workers into the country pitched PENGASSAN and NUPENG against many oil companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil and Halliburton last year, leading to frequent industrial unrest in the industry.

THISDAY reported last week that the National Assembly was currently investigating alleged abuse of expatriate quota by multinational oil companies. Specifically, the House of Representatives Committee on Oil and Gas had commenced compilation of names of all expatriates working in the oil companies, especially Nigeria's joint venture partners.

Ogbeifun said PENGASSAN along with NUPENG have been secretly compiling names of foreign workers in surplus at the firms, which are being passed on to the House Committee.

The tenor of relations with the multinationals seem to be signaling a major break with past policy in favor of growing local discontent. The consequences could be far-reaching for both Nigeria and the multinationals; the country currently exports some 2.4 million bpd of crude and is gearing up to become a major source for liquid natural gas.

The changes come as the government of President and Petroleum Minister Olusegun Obasanjo tries to fend off powerful demands and outright violence aimed at securing more of the nation's vast oil revenues for the lower ranks of its population.