By EMMANUELLA ANOKAM

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), says Nigeria’s oil and gas production remains unaffected following the closure of its offices nationwide by protesting workers.

The strike has paralysed administrative activities at the commission offices.

Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, Head, Corporate Communications and Media, NUPRC, said this on Monday while reacting to the ongoing industrial action.

Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had blocked access to the NUPRC’s headquarters in protest over alleged irregularities in foreign training placements, forcing suspension of administrative services.

“It is true that some administrative activities were affected today due to industrial action taken by the unions. However, this has not in any way impacted activities in oil and gas facilities or production in general.

“The top management of the commission is meeting with the unions in order to put an end to the strike and ultimately restore normalcy,” he said.

Akinkuotu said regulatory oversight and field monitoring remained in place.

Protesting workers shut down operations of the commission nationwide after negotiations with management reportedly broke down over issues relating to overseas training opportunities.

Competent sources said the disagreement was caused by the management’s decision to prioritise local training programmes over foreign capacity-building initiatives.

A member of staff, who claimed anonymity, said the management of the commission argued that conducting specialised training in Nigeria would reduce costs and strengthen domestic institutional capacity.

NUPRC management insisted that training programmes, including those linked to Factory Acceptance Tests for Positive Displacement (PD) Meters should be conducted locally rather than overseas.

The workers, however, rejected the position and embarked on strike, thus raising concerns over the impact of prolonged labour unrest on regulatory activities. (NAN)