PENGASSAN Strike: Nigerians count the cost

Guardian Nigeria

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00:00Nigeria's oil and gas industry came to a sudden halt last week, following a nationwide strike

00:10by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria .

00:16The strike, though short-lived, caused ripple effects across oil production, gas supply and

00:22electricity, shaking the nation's economy and daily life.

00:27The industrial action began on September 28, 2025, after over 800 workers at the Dangote

00:33Refinery were reportedly dismissed.

00:37Pengacin accused the management of unfair labor practices and breach of union rights, prompting

00:42a total shutdown of oil and gas operations across the country.

00:47Within 24 hours, the effects were massive.

00:50Nigeria lost an estimated 283,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

00:56Translating to nearly 16% of national production.

01:01At the international benchmark of $92 per barrel, that's a loss of roughly $26 million daily.

01:08Gas output also plunged by 1.7 billion standard cubic feet per day, disrupting supplies to

01:14major power stations and leading to 1,200 megawatt drop in national electricity generation.

01:22This translated to longer blackouts and reduced power supply for homes and small businesses.

01:29Before the strike, Nigeria's oil output has been climbing, reaching 1.68 million barrels

01:35per day in September, its highest level in so many years.

01:41Daily gas production had also peaked at 7 billion cubic feet, a major milestone in national

01:46energy recovery.

01:47But with a strike, the progress briefly stalled.

01:52Gas stations in major cities began running low, with kills reappearing in Lagos and Abuja.

01:59Cooking gas prices sparked from around 1,200 naira per kilogram to between 1,800 and 2,000

02:06naira, depending on location.

02:10Food spheres and food prices also inched upward as inflationary pressure trickled down to ordinary

02:16Nigerians.

02:17In the heat of the crisis, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited chief executive

02:23chairman, Bayo Ojulari, met with the president, Bola Ahmed Tinumbu, at the state house.

02:29Ojulari presented the losses of over $26 million daily and a threat to national energy security,

02:37consult the president's intervention.

02:40The meeting resulted in a communique signed by both parties.

02:45It ordered the immediate reinstatement of dismissed workers, a review of employment terms at the

02:50refinery, and a commitment by government and labor to prevent future disruptions.

02:56I think it was quite an important opportunity to update the president on the progress in NNPC,

03:04particularly in terms of our production performance, in terms of all the progress we are making

03:08in terms of attracting investment.

03:11As you recall, Mr. President gave us a very clear mandate, which is to grow production to

03:16at least 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and up to, you know, 3 million barrels per day

03:22by 2030, as well as grow gas production as well.

03:25So where are we on that and how are we progressing this year and how are we preparing for next year

03:31in terms of ensuring that we deliver this growth?

03:33It was quite unfortunate that the Dangote and Benghazi issue, you know, led to the strike.

03:41And as you know, whenever the strike and critical staff manning critical facilities are not available,

03:48it's almost impossible.

03:50In this particular case, we actually lost significant production of almost over 200,000 barrels per day

03:56of production that was deferred, we also have gas production that was deferred and power generation

04:03also was impacted about 1.2 megawatts of power was affected by that strike.

04:08But I think I'm very pleased that, you know, the FARA government, you know, through the leadership

04:13of the FARA Minister for Labour and also full support from the National Security Advisor,

04:20we're able to put together everyone into, you know, a dialogue and bring everybody to the table.

04:26And now there's been a community that has been agreed on the way forward.

04:29We're all very hopeful that everyone will abide by those communities.

04:33So since then, we've been able to return quite a number of the production back to Satosco.

04:40There are one or two areas where we're still trying to catch up.

04:43But overall, we are gradually going back to restore the lost production and the defamines that we have as of today.

04:49Ujulari assured Nigerians that production would gradually return to 1.8 million barrels per day before the year's end,

04:57with a long-term target to eat 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and a 3 million by 2030.

05:05He noted that the industry was already catching up on lost ground and working to restore confidence among investors.

05:13So we're making good progress. As you know, we recorded about 1.68 million barrels per day of oil production last month,

05:23which was very good. That was the first in about five years in terms of milestones.

05:28We also recorded the highest gas production above 7 BCF per day again, which is also the highest in recent times.

05:37But what we're also expecting is that with some of the turnaround maintenances that we've done in the month of August and September,

05:43all of those are meant to come back this month.

05:46And we are hoping that before the end of the year, we should at least be clocking at least 1.8 million barrels per day,

05:52all things being equal.

05:54The increase you saw was relatively artificial because, you know, for the period of the strike,

05:58what that meant was that quiet movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days, right?

06:04And because of that, you see that impact. As things return back to normal,

06:09it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.

06:13So that delay, and of course, as you know, with Nigerians, people take opportunity.

06:17With that delay, some of the people that have existing resources and reserves

06:21had to put up the price. My expectation is that now that things are back to normal,

06:25prices should return back to what they were before the strike.

06:29The suspension of the Pengacin strike may have brought relief,

06:32but the episode exposed the fragility of Nigeria's energy backbone.

06:37As both sides return to the table, the focus shifts from confrontation to collaboration

06:43to ensure that industrial disputes no longer hold an entire nation to ransom.

06:49The

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