By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has seen the restoration of oil production amounting to 275,000 barrels per day as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited settled the lingering rift between oil operators and unions.
On Sunday, the state oil company brokered a peace deal between TotalEnergies management, NNPC/Total JV operator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) which has been ongoing for over two months.
In a communiqué issued at the end of a marathon negotiation session chaired by Mr Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, executive vice president of Upstream, NNPC Limited, all parties committed to resolving all the issues within an agreed framework.
According to the communiqué, following the peace deal brokered by the NNPC, the oil operators and unions agreed to suspend ongoing industrial action leading to the immediate restoration of 275,000 barrels per day production.
The communique was signed by TotalEnergies CEO, Mr Matthieu Bouyer, PENGASSAN President, Mr Festus Osifo, and NUPENG President, Mr Williams Akporeha.
It was witnessed by Mrs Eyesan, and Mr Bala Wunti, chief upstream investment officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services.
Also in attendance was Mr Victor Bandele, deputy managing director of TotalEnergies.
The move is expected to boost Nigeria’s oil production quota which has been on the recovery in recent months.
In October, the country increased its output by 60,000 barrels per day, reaching 1.49 million barrels per day—the highest production level in almost two years.
However, this figure remains below the country’s targeted aspirations of 1.8 million barrels as approved by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), leaving uncertainty about whether this increase will be adequate for a revision in the quota.
The Nigerian government’s current crude oil production is 1.7 million barrels per day, but the country has been unable to reach that level of production
