Crude oil production unaffected as workers protest foreign training policy, says NUPRC – THISAGE

By Victor Osula, Abuja

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has assured industry stakeholders that Nigeria’s crude oil and gas production remains stable and unaffected despite the ongoing nationwide strike by workers protesting against the commission’s foreign training policy.

The commission gave the assurance on Monday after members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) closed NUPRC offices across the country, disrupting administrative activities and blocking access to its headquarters in Abuja.

Workers took industrial action following a breakdown in negotiations with management over the commission’s decision to prioritize local training programs over staff capacity-building initiatives abroad.

Reacting to the development, NUPRC Head of Corporate Communications and Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, acknowledged that some administrative functions were affected by the strike, but stressed that oil and gas operations across the country remained uninterrupted.

“It is true that today some administrative activities have been affected by industrial actions taken by unions. However, this has in no way affected the activities of oil and gas facilities or production in general,” Akinkuotu said.

He noted that the commission’s leaders are already involving the union leadership in discussions to resolve the dispute and restore normal operations.

“The leaders of the commission are meeting with the unions to end the strike and finally restore normality,” he added.

According to Akinkuotu, regulatory oversight functions and field monitoring activities continue despite the disruption of office operations.

The strike was triggered by a disagreement over how staff were trained, with knowledgeable sources indicating that management had chosen to emphasize local training programs as part of efforts to reduce costs and strengthen national institutional capacity.

Sources within the commission said management maintains that specialized training, including programs linked to factory acceptance testing for positive displacement (PD) meters, could be conducted effectively in Nigeria without the need for expensive foreign travel.

One staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the commission believes the policy would promote local content development while providing more cost-effective training opportunities.

Workers, however, reportedly resisted the move, insisting that some technical programs require international exposure and direct interaction with global equipment manufacturers and industry experts.

The disagreement subsequently escalated into a nationwide strike, forcing the suspension of administrative activities in NUPRC offices and raising concerns about the potential implications of prolonged labor unrest on regulatory processes.

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