The oil and gas sector witnessed a near total shutdown yesterday as the 3-day warning strike ordered by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) took off with major oil and gas exploration and production companies as well as oil marketing companies in Lagos, Abuja, Warri, Port-Harcourt deserted.
A relief may come for commuters today as the national executive of the two unions meet in Abuja today to review the strike with a possibility of calling it off.
National President of NUPENG, Comrade Peter Akpatason, confirmed this development yesterday evening but emphasised that only the NEC could take a decision to suspend the strike. The NEC meeting would hold in Abuja.
This was the decision taken at meeting with leaders of the oil sector unions facilitated by the federal ministry of labour and productivity held in Abuja yesterday.
By late Afternoon yesterday, the effect of the strike had crippled operations at all the oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Niger Delta, while ensuring that there was no lifting of petroleum products ongoing at any of the petroleum products depot around the country.
Similarly, most filling stations which had been directed to stop selling all petroleum products around the country complied with the strike directive with fuel tanker drivers giving added fillip to the strike action by staying off the roads.
Although Vanguard could not ascertain if there was crude oil lifting at the export terminals, an official of the Ministry of Petroleum resources disclosed that lifting was currently unaffected.
A monitoring task force of NUPENGASSAN (an acronym for both unions) which included the Lagos zonal secretary of NUPENG, Comrade Tokunbo Korodo went round filling stations and depots in Lagos yesterday to effect the strike sealed off Mobil station at Maryland by noon .
Korodo warned that �any filling station caught selling products during the strike will not only be sealed off, but would be sanctioned after the action.�