IOC divestments: Job security, welfare of workers our priority — PENGASSAN

• Says rift with Dangote Refinery over

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

As international oil companies, IOCs, continue to divest from Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, concerns over job losses and the welfare of workers have remained at the heart of the transition.

But the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, says it has made job security and improved welfare its foremost priorities, insisting that workers should not bear the brunt of the industry’s changing ownership structure.

PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, said the union’s intervention in recent divestments had ensured that none of its members lost their jobs, despite major transactions involving ExxonMobil, Shell, Agip and Equinor. He said the union had also succeeded in securing improved remuneration for its members across the industry.